ACTION COMMITTEE ON ISSUE OF CASTE CERTIFICATE TO SCHEDULED CASTES AND SCHEDULED TRIBES IN THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Where a person belonging to a caste or tribe specified for the purposes of the Constitution to be a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe in relation to State A migrates to State B where a caste or tribe with the same nomenclature is specified for the purposes of the Constitution to be a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe in relation to that State B, will that person be entitled to claim the privileges and benefits admissible to persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes and/or Scheduled Tribes in State B , is the neat question raised in this petition brought under Article 32 of the Constitution by one Shri Devidas Kuberdas Kantharia in his personal capacity as well as in his capacity as the Chairman of Petitioner No. 1 Committee. The grievance sought to be projected in this petition, which has been brought in a representative capacity and by way of a Public Interest Litigation, is that State B denies the benefits and privileges admissible to such persons belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes who have migrated from State A or any other State. Before we set out the specific nature of the grievance it may be advantageous to refer to the provisions in the Constitution which have a bearing on the question at issue.

(2.) In Part XVI of the Constitution special provisions relating to certain classes including Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have been made. Articles 330 and 332 provide for reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the House of the People and in the Legislative Assemblies of the States. Article 335 enjoins that claims of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes shall be taken into consideration in making all appointments to services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union or of a State. Article 338 provides for the appointment of a Special Officer for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to investigate all matters relating to the safeguards provided for them and to report to the President upon the working of those safeguards. Then come Articles 341 and 342 which may be reproduced at this stage :

(3.) On a plain reading of clause (1) of Articles 341 and 342 it is manifest that the power of the President is limited to specifying the castes or tribes which shall, for the purposes of the Constitution, be deemed to be Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes in relation to a State or a Union Territory, as the case may be. Once a notification is issued under clause (1) of Articles 341 and 342 of the Constitution, the Parliament can by law include in or exclude from the list of Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes, specified in the notification, any caste or tribe but save for that limited purpose the notification issued under clause (1, shall not be varied by any subsequent notification. What is important to notice is that the castes or tribes have to be specified in relation to a given State or Union Territory. That means a given caste or tribe can be a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe in relation to the State or Union Territory for which it is specified. These are the relevant provisions with which we shall be concerned while dealing with the grievance made in this petition.