NAND KISHORE PRASAD Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS writ petition on behalf of the sole petitioner has been filed seeking direction upon the respondents to accept his joining on the post of Assistant Teacher in a primary school in the district of East Champaran on the basis of the caste certificate of the Sub -divisional Officer, Motihari dated 16.3.2000. In the said certificate the petitioner has been described as scheduled tribe being member of the Gond community.

(2.) THE petitioner applied for the post of primary school teacher pursuant to advertisement published by the Bihar Public Service Commission in or about 1999. Along with the application he submitted the aforesaid caste certificate granted by the Sub -divisional Officer, Sadar Motihari. The petitioner qualified at the tests and his name was thus included in the list of the successful candidates in the scheduled tribe (03) category. However, the authorities are insisting on production of the caste certificate by the District Magistrate and it is on this ground that he is not being appointed. The petitioner contends that under the Rules of Procedure the candidate is required to produce the caste certificate issued either by the District Magistrate or the Sub -divisional Officer and as in the instant case he has obtained and produced the caste certificate by the Sub -divisional Officer, he is not required to produce another certificate by the District Magistrate.

(3.) CLAUSE (25) of Article 366 of the Constitution of India defines 'schedule tribe ' to mean "such tribes or tribal communities or parts or of groups within such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under Article 342 to be scheduled tribes for the purposes of this Constitution". Article 342(1) empowers the President to specify the tribes and tribal communities or parts of a groups within the tribes and tribal communities which would be deemed to be scheduled tribes in relation to particular State after consultation of the Governor of the State.