SC/ST Member Of One State Cannot Avail Benefits From Another Unless Caste Notified There: Supreme Court

A member of the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) community cannot claim the benefit of reservation in government employment in other states if his or her caste is not notified there, ruled the Supreme Court on Wednesday (29 August) reports Times of India.

This ruling was given by a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi.

The bench unanimously held that if someone is denoted as a Scheduled Caste in one state, he or she cannot be deemed so in another where they migrated to either work or study.

The bench comprising justices N V Ramana, R Banumathi, M Shantanagoudar and Justice S A Nazeer observed that “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”.

Justice Banumathi, however, dissented majority view on the aspect of applicability of central reservation policy on SC/ST in the national capital territory, Delhi. The bench on 4:1 majority held that central reservation policy on SC/ST would be applicable for Delhi.