RATNA VORA Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BY way of the present petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner has prayed for the following reliefs:

(2.) THE facts which can be culled out from the record of the petition are that the petitioner resides at Ahmedabad and was elected as Municipal Councilor from Rakhial Ward for two consecutive terms in 2000 and 2005 and she belongs to Scheduled Caste community i.e. 'Hindu Vanker'. That after India gained independence, the Constitution of India listed some erstwhile groups as Scheduled Castes, which were covered under Article 314 of the Constitution of India and such castes were notified for the first time under the Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order, 1950 and that list has been modified/amended/supplemented from time to time. That in order to get benefit of being a member of Scheduled Caste, one has to get a caste certificate, which is a proof of one's belonging to a particular caste. Relying upon the guidelines issued in Circular No. 35/1/72 R.U. SCTU (5) dated 02.05.1975 of Government of India, has, inter alia, provided that if a person claims to be member of Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, his or her parents have to be from that caste only.

(3.) IT is further the case of the petitioner that respondent No. 3 belongs to "Marwadi Mochi", which community is excluded from the list of Gujarat State Scheduled Caste by amendment in the Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Orders (IInd Amendment) Act, 2002 No. 61/02 dated 17.12.2002. That after the said amendment, the persons belonging to Mochi caste no longer belong to Scheduled Caste, except to the extent of those belonging to Dang and Valsad districts. That Marwadi Mochi caste was never a Scheduled Caste community and a person belonging to the said caste cannot avail benefit of Scheduled Caste.