JUDGMENT

K.G. Balakrishnan, CJI.,

1. Leave granted. Heard learned counsel for the parties.

2. The appellant sought admission to Engineering course claiming the benefit of reservation alleging that he belonged to Mahadeo Koli - a scheduled tribe. The Scrutiny Committee which verified the validity of his caste certificate, made an order dated 29.3.1995 rejecting his claim that he belonged to a Scheduled Tribe. The appellant challenged the order of the scrutiny committee in W.P. No.2667/1995. In the said petition, the Bombay High Court issued an interim order directing the third respondent (Director of Technical Education, State of Maharashtra) to accept the application of Appellant for admission to BE course and process the same and give admission by treating him as a candidate belonging to a scheduled tribe, with a condition that the admission, if granted, will be provisional and subject to the final decision. In pursuance of it, the appellant was admitted to the BE course by extending the benefit of reservation under the quota for Scheduled Tribes. Eventually he completed the Engineering course and was conferred a degree by the University of Pune on 31.3.2004.

3. The writ petition filed by the Appellant was dismissed by order dated 28.3.2006, upholding the order of the Scrutiny Committee, with a direction to the third Respondent to take appropriate steps for recall of the degree granted to the appellant. The said order of the High Court is challenged in this appeal by special leave. The only contention urged by the appellant is that even if his scheduled tribe claim was rejected, he should not have been denied the benefit of the degree obtained by him. In support of this contention, he relied on the decisions of this Court in State of Maharashtra v. Milind (2001) 1 SCC 4 and R.Vishwanatha Pillai v. State of Kerala (2004) 2 SCC 105.

4. In Milind, a Constitution Bench of this Court while rejecting the caste claim of first Respondent therein, extended the benefit of retention of degree to him on the following reasoning :-

"Respondent 1 joined the medical course for the year 1985-86. Almost 15 years have passed by now. We are told he has already completed the course and may be he is practicing as a doctor. In this view and at this length of time it is for nobodys benefit to annul his admission. Hege amount is spent on each candidate for completion of medical course. No doubt, one Scheduled Tribe candidate was deprived of joining medical course by the admission given to Respondent 1. If any action is taken against Respondent 1, it may lead to depriving the service of a doctor to the society on whom public money has already been spent. In these circumstances, this judgment shall not affect the degree obtained by him and his practicing as a doctor. But we make it clear that he cannot claim to belong to the Scheduled Tribe covered by the Scheduled Tribes Order. In other words, he cannot take advantage of the Scheduled Tribes Order any further or for any other constitutional purpose."

4.1. In Vishwanatha Pillai, this Court, following Milind, permitted one of the appellants therein, who had been admitted to an Engineering Degree College against a seat reserved for a scheduled caste and whose caste claim was negatived, to be allowed to take his degree with the condition that he will not be treated as a Scheduled Caste candidate in future either for securing employment or other benefits on the basis of the cancelled caste certificate.

5. In Milind, the question was whether the first respondent who belonged to Koshti caste could claim the benefit of ST reservation on the ground that it was a sub-tribe of Halba [Entry No.19 in Part IX of the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order 1950]. This Court held that Koshti was not a part of the Scheduled Tribe of Halba and that the entries in the Scheduled Tribes Order could not be amended or expanded by any Authority. As a consequence, th