IMPORTANT POINT
Any Government Order extending benefits of reservation must be in consonance with the Presidential Order 1964.

JUDGMENT

R.M. LODHA, C.J.I.

The appellant is an association representing the Scheduled Caste residents who have permanent residence/place of abode in Puducherry. The association filed two Writ Petitions before the High Court challenging the two Government Orders being G.O.Ms.No.11/2005/Wel(SCW II) [for short, 'G.O.M. 11/2005'] and G.O.Ms.No.12/2005/Wel(SCW II) [for short, 'G.O.M. 12/2005'] both dated 05.08.2005. G.O.M. 11/2005 relates to reservation benefits in promotion and employment to Group C & D posts and the other G.O.M. 12/2005 relates to reservation benefits in professional courses.

2. The High Court was not persuaded by the arguments of the writ petitioner and dismissed the two Writ Petitions by a common order dated 21.07.2008.

3. The present Civil Appeals, by special leave, arise from the above common judgment.

4. Both Government Orders take note of the Constitution (Pondicherry) Scheduled Castes Order, 1964 and also the judgment of this Court in S. Pushpa and others Vs. Sivachanmugavelu and others, (2005) 3 SCC 1 and then provide for extension of reservation only to the Scheduled Castes origins of the Union Territory.

5. Para 5 of G.O.M. 11/2005 reads as follows :-

“Having examined the demand made by various Welfare Associations and Scheduled Castes (origin) people of the Union Territory of Pondicherry and taking into account the observations made by the Hon'ble Supreme Court at para 21 of the said judgment dated 11.02.2005, the Lieutenant Governor, Pondicherry is pleased to order that the reservation benefits in promotion, employment to Group 'C' and 'D' posts shall henceforth be extended only to the Scheduled Caste origins of the Union Territory as notified in the Constitution (Pondicherry) Scheduled Castes Order, 1964 read with the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Second Amendment) Act, 2002 (Central Act 61 of 2002).”

6. Similarly, para 5 of G.O.M. 12/2005 reads as follows :-

“Having examined the demand made by various Welfare Associations and Scheduled Castes (origin) people of the Union Territory of Pondicherry and taking into account the observations made by the Hon'ble Supreme Court at para 21 of the said judgment dated 11.02.2005, the Lieutenant Governor, Pondicherry is pleased to order that the reservation benefits in the field of education and welfare shall henceforth be extended only to the Scheduled Caste origins of this Union Territory as notified in the Constitution (Pondicherry) Scheduled Castes Order, 1964 read with the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Second Amendment) Act, 2002 (Central Act 61 of 2002).”

7. Leave was granted in these matters on 13.12.2010 and it was ordered that these matters be tagged with Civil Appeal No. 4494 of 2006.

8. It so happened that subsequently by order dated October 7, 2010, Civil Appeal No. 4494 of 2006, (2010) 12 SCC 794, State of Uttaranchal Vs. Sandeep Kumar Singh and Others, came to be referred to a 3-Judge Bench as the 2-Judge Bench, inter alia, observed that in Subhash Chandra Vs. Delhi Subordinate Service Selection Board, (2009) 15 SCC 458, the 2-Judge Bench could not have held that the decision rendered in S. Puspha1 case is obiter and not binding.

9. Civil Appeal No. 4494 of 2006, (2010) 12 SCC 794, State of Uttaranchal Vs. Sandeep Kumar Singh and Others has been dismissed by us yesterday (August 6, 2014) without answering the reference as it was not necessary in view of paragraph 4 of the impugned judgment therein.

10. In the present case also, it is not necessary to answer the question raised in the reference only in Civil Appeal No. 4494 of 2006, (2010) 12 SCC 794, State of Uttaranchal Vs. Sandeep Kumar Singh and Others as we find that the impugned Government Orders cannot be sustained on the short ground, viz., they being not in consonance with the Presidential Order, 1964.

11. The Presidential Order, 1964 reads as follows :-

“THE CONSTITUTION (PONDICHERRY) SCHEDULED CASTES ORDER, 1964

(C.O. 68)

In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of artic