The Long Wait
Farukh Ilahi Sayyad's journey to becoming a recognized engineer was a nine-year marathon, not a sprint. Despite completing his electrical engineering degree
in 2017, the official certification remained elusive until a Bombay High Court directive in 2025. His predicament stemmed from a confluence of factors: a hastily introduced and subsequently defunct Muslim reservation policy, a change in political leadership, and the inability to obtain a crucial caste validity certificate. For nearly a decade, Sayyad possessed the knowledge and skills of an engineer but lacked the formal degree, a situation that significantly hampered his career aspirations and professional identity. This prolonged delay underscored the systemic challenges faced by students caught in policy vacuums, highlighting the impact of bureaucratic inertia on individual lives and professional development. His story is a testament to perseverance against administrative obstacles.
Policy's Rise and Fall
Sayyad's academic path became entangled with Maharashtra's brief 5% Muslim reservation policy, enacted in 2014 by the Congress-NCP government as a special measure under the Special Backward Category-A (SBC-A). This policy, introduced shortly before assembly elections, aimed to include approximately 50 socially and educationally backward Muslim communities. It was under this provision that Sayyad, then 21 and from Beed, secured admission to Finolex Academy of Management and Technology for his electrical engineering degree. Having completed a diploma with strong marks, he was eligible for direct second-year entry. He initially considered a Pune college but opted for the Ratnagiri institution due to more affordable fees under the SBC-A category. However, the political landscape shifted dramatically in October 2014 with the election of a BJP-led government. While the Bombay High Court initially upheld the Muslim reservation in educational institutions in November 2014, the government failed to convert the enabling ordinance into permanent legislation, causing the policy to lapse by December 2014. This abrupt end to the reservation framework created the immediate problem for students like Sayyad.
Bureaucratic Impasse
The lapse of the reservation ordinance plunged Sayyad into a bureaucratic quagmire. Upon applying for his caste validity certificate in February 2015, the state scrutiny committee informed him that it could not issue the document because the reservation policy itself was no longer in effect. This created a catch-22 situation: without the validity certificate, his admission under the quota was precarious, yet the certificate could not be issued due to the policy's cancellation. Despite numerous representations to various authorities, no resolution was found. He was even told he could continue his studies by paying the higher fees applicable to open-category students, an option he accepted in the hope of an eventual resolution. Nevertheless, upon completing his degree in 2017, both his college and the University of Mumbai withheld his final marksheet and degree certificate, citing the absence of the crucial caste validity certificate, effectively leaving him in academic limbo for years.
The Fight for Rights
Unable to secure his degree through administrative channels, Sayyad moved to Kuwait in 2018, relying on his diploma qualification for employment. The inability to present a degree certificate continued to be a significant professional impediment, preventing him from accessing better job opportunities. This personal struggle intensified, compelling him to seek legal recourse upon his return to India. He engaged advocates Amol Ghuge and Gaurav Ugale, who filed a petition with the Bombay High Court. Their argument centered on the principle that the repeal of a law should not invalidate rights or proceedings that had already been established under it. They contended that withholding Sayyad's degree infringed upon his right to livelihood and that he should not be penalized for subsequent governmental policy shifts, advocating for the protection of education already acquired. The court's eventual decision in May 2025 acknowledged these points, directing the University of Mumbai to release his degree and certificates, under the condition that Sayyad did not claim benefits from the now-scrapped 2014 reservation policy and had already paid open-category fees, signifying a hard-won victory.
