ORDER

1. The question which arises for consideration in the present appeal is as to whether a person belonging to a scheduled caste in relation to a particular State would be entitled or not, to the benefits or concessions allowed to scheduled caste candidate in the matter of employment, in any other State?

2. G.B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pant Nagar, Uttaranchal issued employment notice inviting applications from candidates all over the country for various posts mentioned therein. The notification, inter alia, porivded:

“The vacancies are advertised under the reservation roster supplied by the Uttaranchal Government.”

3. Respondents applied for post of Assistant Professor in different departments as scheduled caste reserved category candidates. In support of their caste, certificates issued by the States of U.P, Bihar and Tripura were produced. Respondents were successful in the selection conducted by the University. Appellant, State of Uttaranchal, wrote a letter to the Vice-Chancellor of the University inter alia stating that reservations in the appointment have been made in violation of reservation policy of the State and all the appointments made by the University in violation of the reservation policy of the State were accordingly cancelled. University, accordingly, withdrew the appointment letters of the respondents under the instructions of the State Government on the ground that they do not belong to scheduled caste category of State of Uttaranchal.

The respondents filed writ petitions in the High Court challenging the termination letter. The High Court allowed the writ petitions. The High Court without even adverting to the Constitution Bench decisions in Marri Chandra Shekhar Rao vs. Dean, Seth G. S. Medical College & Ors.1 (1990) 3 SCC 130 and Action Committee on Issue of Caste Certificate to Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes in the State of Maharashtra & Anr. Vs. Union of India & Anr.2 (1994) 5 SCC 244 allowed the writ petitions filed by the respondents and accordingly quashed the termination orders.

4. In Marri Chandra Shekhar Rao, a Constitution Bench of this Court while interpreting Article 341 as well as Article 342 observed:

“...that the expression `for the purposes of this Constitution’ in Article 341 as well as in Article 342 do imply that the Scheduled Caste and the Scheduled Tribes so specified would be entitled to enjoy all the constitutional rights that are enjoyable by all the citizens as such. Constitutional right, e.g., it has been argued that right to migration or right to move from one part to another is a right given to all — to Scheduled Castes or Tribes and to non- scheduled castes or tribes. But when a Scheduled Caste or Tribe migrates, there is no inhibition in migrating but when he migrates, he does not and cannot carry any special rights or privileges attributed to him or granted to him in the original State specified for that State or area or part thereof. If that right is not given in the migrated State it does not interfere with his constitutional right of equality or of migration or of carrying on his trade, business or profession. Neither Article 14, 16, 19 nor Article 21 is denuded by migration but he must enjoy those rights in accordance with the law if they are otherwise followed in the place where he migrates. There should be harmonious construction; harmonious in the sense that both parts or all parts of a constitutional provision should be so read that one part does not become nugatory to the other or denuded to the other but all parts must be read in the context in which these are used. It was contended that the only way in which the fundamental rights of the petitioner under Articles 14, 19(1)(d), 19(1)(e) and 19(1)(f) could be given effect to is by construing Article 342 in a manner by which a member of a Scheduled Tribe gets the benefit of that status for the purposes of the Constitution throughout the territory of India.

It was submitted that the words “