HC dismisses plea seeking ST reservation benefit

Shimla, Nov 16 – Himachal Pradesh High Court dismissed a petition seeking reservation benefits to a Schedule Caste Gujjar candidate on the basis of migration from one state to another.
A division bench of justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Justice Virender Singh set aside a petition filed by a candidate to get the benefit of ST in recruitment as a teacher.
The Bench rejected the plea of the petitioner who migrated from the state of Haryana to Himachal after solemnizing marriage within Gujjar community.
The Bench held that migration from one state to another couldn’t be a sufficient ground for seeking the benefit of SC, ST and OBC in the migrated province even by the way of marriage.
Quoting various judgments in this regard, the court said that the objective for the declaration of a caste or tribe as SC, ST and OBC in each state is the specific level of backwardness, prevalent social disparage and economic disadvantages.
Quoting the case of Marri Chandra v/s Dean, S.G.S. Medical College etc court held that the migration for whatever reason from one state to another couldn’t be a sufficient ground for claiming the benefit of SC, ST & OBC in the migratory state.
The court found that the petitioner born as Gujjar community in Haryana, declared OBCs, however, she married within the same Community in Himachal Pradesh and was declared Schedule Tribe. Upholding the order passed against the Petitioner by the department for the post of Language Teacher for batch-wise recruitment court said that the petitioner couldn’t get benefit as ST candidate on the basis of migration or some reasons from one State to another. The court said that candidate born as OBC Gujjar couldn’t claim the benefit of ST Gujjar on the basis of Community.