Judgment :-

S.B. Sinha, J.

1.1. Leave granted in SLP (C) No.24327 of 2005.

2.2. Interpretation and/ or application of the notifications and/or the circulars issued by the National Capital Territory of Delhi in terms of clause (1) of Article 341 of the Constitution of India is involved herein.

3. It arises out of a judgment and order dated 13.05.2005 passed by a Division Bench of the High Court of Delhi dismissing an appeal preferred from an order passed by a learned Single Judge of the said Court.

The writ petition was filed by the appellant society which is registered under the Societies Registration Act, with its objects amongst others `upliftment of Backwards, Scheduled Castes and others of Delhi in education, social and cultural fields and to apply for and get all kinds of facilitation and relaxation and for safeguarding their interest in Government jobs.

3.4. The background facts involving filing of this appeal are as follows :

The members of Scheduled Casts and Scheduled Tribes have an important place in our constitutional scheme. Article 341 of the Constitution empowers the President to specify the castes, races or tribes or part of or groups within castes, races or tribes with respect to any State or Union Territory for the purposes of the Constitution deemed to be Scheduled Castes in relation to that State or Union Territory as the case may be. Similar provision is contained in Article 342 of the Constitution of India with regard to the members of the Scheduled Tribes. Clause (2) of Article 341 which is relevant for our purpose reads as under :

"(2) Parliament may by law include in or exclude from the list of Scheduled Castes specified in a notification issued under clause (1) any caste, race or tribe or part of or group within any caste, race or tribe, but save as aforesaid a notification issued under the said clause shall not be varied by any subsequent notification."

1.5. Private respondents and/or their parents are migrants to Delhi. In their native places, they were declared to be the members of the Scheduled Castes.

2.6. Indisputably, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a circular on or about 2.5.1975, in terms whereof the manner in which the claim of a person as being belonging to Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes is required to be verified was laid down. Such verification was to be made having regard to the Presidential order specifying the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in relation to the concerned State.

In the matter of verification of the caste of migrants, it was laid down:

"1. General (Applications in all cases):-

Where a person claims to belong to a Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes by birth it could be verified:-

.(i) That the person and his parents actually belong to the community claimed.

.(ii) That this community includes in the Presidential Orders specifying the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes in relation to the concerned State.

(iii) That the person belongs to that State and to the area within that State in respect of which the community has been scheduled.

.(iv) If the person claims to be a Scheduled Caste, he should profess either the Hindu or the Sikh religion.

.(v) If the person claims to be a Scheduled Tribe, he may profess any religion.

2. Case of Migration:-

.(i) Where a person migrates from the portion of the State in respect of which his community is scheduled to another part of the same State in respect of which his community is not scheduled he will continue to be deemed to be a member of the Scheduled Caste or the Scheduled Tribe as the case may be in relation to that State.

.(ii) Where a person migrates from one State to another, he can claim to belong to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe only in relation to the State to which he originally belonged and not in respect of the State to which he has migrated."

7. Yet again, by way of a clarification issued by the National Capital Territory of Delhi dated 22.3.1977, it was, inter alia, stated :

"2. As required under Art