SC no to reservation benefit in another state
New Delhi, Aug 30 : The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a person belonging to a Scheduled Caste listed in a particular state would not be entitled to reservation benefits if he migrates to another state for employment or education.
"A person notified as a Scheduled Caste in State 'A' cannot claim the same status in another state on the basis that he is declared a Scheduled Caste in State 'A'," said a Constitution Bench.
The enabling provision under Article 16(4) of the Constitution is to "provide for reservation to classes or categories of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes enumerated in the Presidential orders for a particular state or territory within the geographical area of that state and not beyond", said the Constitution Bench, headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi, in a majority judgment.
However, it said, "... so far as the National Capital Territory of Delhi is concerned, the pan-India reservation rule in force is in accord with the constitutional scheme relating to services under the Union and the states/union territories."
The court said this while addressing the question of "whether a person belonging to a Scheduled Caste in relation to a particular state is entitled or not to the benefits or concessions allowed to Scheduled Caste candidates in employment in any other state."
The bench also addressed the question whether the states on their own could add to the Presidential list of SCs/STs for particular states.
Speaking for the majority, including Justices N.V. Ramana, Mohan M. Shantanagoudar and S. Abdul Nazeer, Justice Gogoi said: ... that the expression "in relation to that state or union territory" and "for the purpose of this Constitution" used in Articles 341 and 342 would mean that the benefits of reservation provided for by the Constitution would stand confined to geographical territories of a state/UT in respect of which the list of SC/ST have been notified by Presidential orders issued from time to time."
The court said that if a state wants to extend the benefits of reservation to a class/categories of people beyond those included in the Presidential list for that state, it will have to "prevail" upon the central authority to undertake appropriate parliamentary exercise to amend and expand the list.
"Unilateral action by the states on the touchstone of Article 16(4) of the Constitution could be a possible trigger point of constitutional anarchy, and therefore must be held to be impermissible under the Constitution," the judgment said.
In her separate judgment, Justice Banumathi agreed with the majority view on the benefits of reservation confined to a particular state but differed on the applicability of pan-India SC/ST reservation list to the Union Territory of Delhi.
There cannot be any distinction between the states and the union territories. Likewise, there can be no distinction between the union territory of Delhi and other UTs, Justice Banumathi said in her minority judgment.
"When the Presidential Orders for listing Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes are notified for various UTs, including the Union Territory of Delhi, extending pan-India reservation to employment falling under the services of UTs, including Delhi, will be against the constitutional scheme and the law laid down by the top court in Marri Chandra Shekhar Rao and Action Committee case," Justice Banumathi added.
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Assam to lift all cases against Koch Rajbongshis in Foreigners' Tribunals: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma
Guwahati, Apr 4 (PTI): The Assam cabinet has decided to lift all cases pending against people from the Koch Rajbongshi community in the Foreigners' Tribunals, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.
They will also no longer carry the tag of 'D' or doubtful voters, he said.
''There are 28,000 cases pending in different Foreigners' Tribunals in the state against people of the community. The cabinet has taken a historic decision of lifting the cases with immediate effect,'' Sarma said at a press conference here after the cabinet meeting.
The government believes that the Koch Rajbongshis are an indigenous community of the state and they are an inextricable part of ''our social and cultural fabric'', he asserted.
The people of this community are poor and have suffered a lot over the years, he said.
''They will no longer carry the tag of foreigners or ‘D’ voters,'' the CM said.
Foreigners Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies, particularly in Assam, established to determine if a person residing in India is a "foreigner" as defined by the Foreigners Act of 1946, based on the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order of 1964.
These tribunals are designed to address matters related to citizenship and the presence of “foreigners” in India, specifically focusing on cases where someone is suspected of being an illegal immigrant.
There are 100 Foreigners’ Tribunals across Assam.
The Koch Rajbongshis have a sizeable presence in Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya, and parts of Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan, and they demand Scheduled Tribe status.
