SC/ST Quota State Specific, Rules SC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday held that a member of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities cannot claim the benefit of reservation in Government employment in other States if his or her caste is not notified there.

A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi unanimously held that a person belonging to the Scheduled Caste in one State cannot be deemed to be a Scheduled Caste in other States where he migrated for the purpose of employment or education.

The Bench, which also comprised Justices NV Ramana, R Banumathi, M Shantanagoudar and Justice SA Nazeer, held, “A person notified as Scheduled Caste in State A cannot claim the same status in another State on the basis that he is declared as Scheduled Caste in State A.”

The court added if a member of SC/ST communities gets the benefit of that status throughout the territory of India, the expression “in relation to that State” under the Constitutional provisions would become nugatory.

Justice Banumathi, however, disagreed with the majority view on the aspect of applicability of Central reservation policy on the SC/ST in National Capital Territory of Delhi. The Bench with a majority of 4:1 held that so far as Delhi is concerned, the Central reservation policy regarding the SC/ST would be applicable here.

The Bench noted that the mandate of Article 341 and 342 for notifying classes as SC and ST would get compromised if the special privileges or the rights granted to the SC/ST in a particular State are to be made available in all the States and if such benefits are to be carried from State A to State B on migration.

Such reservation, the court said, is to be provided on the basis of quantifiable data indicating the adequacy or inadequacy, as may be, of the representation of such classes in Government service.