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2013 Supreme(Del) 1169
High Court of Delhi
BADAR DURREZ AHMED & VIBHU BAKHRU
Ankit Roy
Versus
Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University
LPA 587 of 2013 & CM Nos. 12374-76 of 2013
Decided On : 11-09-2013
For the Appellant:Laliet Kumar along with Deepak Vohra, Advocates.
For the Respondent:Mukul Talwar along with S. Mohapatra, Advocates.
The main legal point established in the judgment is that the power of the President to declare certain communities as Scheduled Castes/Tribes is specific to each State or Union Territory, and the benefit of admission against reserved seats is based on the premise that the said communities are underprivileged in that specific State. Therefore, a candidate belonging to a Scheduled Caste in a different State is not entitled to admission against the reserved category in Delhi unless the policy of extending the benefit of reservation to Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes in relation to other States is adopted by the Government of NCT of Delhi in admissions to educational institutions.
Headnote:
Scheduled Caste - Admission to Educational Institution - Article 341(1) of the Constitution of India - 341(1), 342(1), 15(4), 16, 19, 21, 330, 332, 335, 338, 338A - The court held that a candidate belonging to a notified Scheduled Caste in relation to a State other than Delhi would not be entitled to be treated as belonging to a Scheduled Caste for the purpose of admission against seats reserved under the Delhi Reserved category for Scheduled Castes. The court emphasized that the power of the President to declare certain communities as Scheduled Castes/Tribes is specific to each State or Union Territory, and the affirmative action of providing reservation is based on the premise that the said communities are underprivileged in that specific State. The court also highlighted that the benefit of admission against reserved seats would not be available to a candidate who belongs to a Scheduled Caste in relation to a different State, unless the policy of extending the benefit of reservation to Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes in relation to other States is adopted by the Government of NCT of Delhi in admissions to educational institutions.
Fact of the Case:
The appellant, belonging to a Scheduled Caste in West Bengal, challenged the respondent university's decision not to consider him for admission against the seats reserved for Scheduled Castes from Delhi. The appellant argued that he fulfilled the criteria for admission against the Delhi reserved category, citing Supreme Court and High Court decisions supporting his contention.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the appellant, belonging to a Scheduled Caste in West Bengal, was not entitled to admission against the Delhi Reserved category. The court emphasized that the power of the President to declare certain communities as Scheduled Castes/Tribes is specific to each State or Union Territory, and the benefit of admission against reserved seats would not be available to a candidate who belongs to a Scheduled Caste in relation to a different State, unless the policy of extending the benefit of reservation to Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes in relation to other States is adopted by the Government of NCT of Delhi in admissions to educational institutions.
Issues: The main issue was whether a candidate belonging to a notified Scheduled Caste in relation to a State other than Delhi would be entitled to be treated as belonging to a Scheduled Caste for the purpose of admission against seats reserved under the Delhi Reserved category for Scheduled Castes.
Ratio Decidendi: The court's decision was based on the interpretation of Article 341(1) of the Constitution of India, which specifies that the President has the power to declare certain communities as Scheduled Castes/Tribes in relation to each State or Union Territory. The court emphasized that the affirmative action of providing reservation is based on the premise that the said communities are underprivileged in that specific State, and the benefit of admission against reserved seats would not be available to a candidate who belongs to a Scheduled Caste in relation to a different State, unless the policy of extending the benefit of reservation to Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes in relation to other States is adopted by the Government of NCT of Delhi in admissions to educational institutions.
Final Decision: The court dismissed the appeal and vacated the interim order, affirming the decision of the learned Single Judge.
Vibhu Bakhru, J.
1. The present appeal has been filed challenging the common judgment delivered by a learned Single Judge of this court on 07.08.2013 in W.P.(C) 4748/2013 and other connected writ petitions. The appellant had filed the writ petition being W.P.(C) 4748/2013, inter-alia, challenging the action of the respondent university in not considering the appellant as a candidate belonging to a Scheduled Caste for the purposes of admission to the B.Tech Programme for the academic session 2013-14 against seats reserved for Delhi. The learned Single Judge has disposed of the writ petition (along with the other matters raising similar issues) by holding that candidates who did not belong to the communities which were included in the list of Scheduled Castes in relation to Delhi in the Presidential order issued under Article 341(1) of the Constitution of India, would not be entitled for admission to the respondent university against the seats reserved for candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes from Delhi.
Only those candidates who belong to communities included in the schedule to the Presidential order in relation to Delhi would be entitled to be considered for admission against the Delhi reserved category seats provided they are residents of Delhi.
2. The appellant belongs to Rajbanshi Caste which is included in the list of Scheduled Castes in relation to the State of West Bengal but is not included in the list of Scheduled Castes in relation to Delhi as per the Presidential order and, thus, the learned Single Judge has upheld the decision of the respondent university in not considering the appellant for admission to the colleges affiliated to the respondent university against the seats reserved for SC category for Delhi.
3. The question that arises for consideration in the present appeal is whether a candidate, who belongs to a notified Scheduled Caste in relation to a State other than Delhi, would be entitled to be treated as belonging to a Scheduled Caste for the purpose of admission against seats reserved under the Delhi Reserved category for Scheduled Castes.
4. The appellant was born in Delhi on 31.05.1995. The parents of the appellant had, a few years prior to his birth, migrated from West Bengal to Delhi. The appellant is stated to belong to Rajbanshi Caste which is a specified Scheduled Caste in relation to the State of West Bengal as per Part XIX of the Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order, 1950, as amended from time to time. However, Rajbanshi is not specified as a Scheduled Caste in relation to Delhi as per the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) (Union Territories) Order, 1951 issued under Article 341(1) of the Constitution of India, as amended from time to time.
5. The appellant is stated to have completed his entire schooling in Delhi. After successfully completing his Senior Secondary schooling, the appellant appeared for the common entrance test (CET) conducted on 19.05.2013, for admission to the BE/B.Tech Courses in various colleges and institutions. The results of the common entrance test were declared and the appellant was ranked at no.8682 in the order of merit. The appellant was required to submit his preferences of the institutes affiliated with the CET. On 04/05.07.2013, the appellant was called upon by the respondent university for physical verification and submission of the requisite attested documents. The documents submitted by the appellant included a certificate issued by the Office of the Executive Magistrate, Model Town, Delhi certifying the appellant as belonging to the Rajbanshi Caste. The certificate further stated that the same had been issued on the basis of the Scheduled Caste/Tribe Certificate dated 17.07.1976 which had been issued to the father of the appellant, who was stated to be the resident of village Bazrapukur, PO Nayabariat, Distt. South Dinajpur, West Bengal, by the ADM, West Dinajpur, Balurghat, West Bengal at the material time.
6. The online counselling was con
