SONALI DEVENDRAKUMAR NIMAL Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) RULE . Respondents waive service. By consent, rule is made returnable forthwith.

(2.) THE first question which arises for determination is whether a person belonging to a caste or a tribe specified for the purposes of the Constitution to be a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe in relation to State 'A' migrates to State 'B' where a caste or a 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 Scheduled Tribe/Caste in State 'B'. The next question is whether a son or a daughter of such person born in State 'B' to which the person has migrated be entitled to claim such privileges in State 'B' or any other State.

(3.) IT was observed by the Constitutional Bench that considerations for specifying a particular caste to tribe or class for including in the list of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribe or backward classes in a given State would depend on the nature and extent of disadvantages and social hardships suffered by that caste, tribe or class in that State which may be totally non set in another State to which persons belonging thereto may migrate. Coincidentally it may be that a caste or tribe bearing the same nomenclature is specified in two States but the considerations on the basis of which they have been specified may be totally different. So also the degree of disadvantages of various element which constitute the input for specification may also be totally different. Therefore, merely because a given caste is specified in State A as a Scheduled Caste does not necessarily mean that if there be another caste bearing the same nomenclature in another State the person belonging to the former would be entitled to the rights, privileges and benefits admissible to a member of the Scheduled Caste of the latter State 'for the purposes of This Constitution'.