ORDER

Hon’ble Mr. B. Anand, Member (A):

The applicant, a resident of District Samastipur, Bihar, belonging to the ‘Lohar’ community, appeared in the Staff Selection Commission – Combined Graduate Level Examination, 2015, and was selected for appointment to the post of Auditor under the Other Backward Class (OBC) category. A caste certificate dated 19.09.2015 was issued by the District Collector, Samastipur, Bihar, certifying that the applicant belongs to the ‘Lohar’ community, which, at the relevant point of time, was recognised as an OBC in the State of Bihar.

2. Subsequently, the Government of Bihar issued Notification No. 10818 dated 23.08.2016, whereby the ‘Lohar (Lohara)’ community was treated as a Scheduled Tribe (ST). Pursuant thereto, the applicant, armed with a Scheduled Tribe certificate, appeared in the Combined Graduate Level Examination, 2017 conducted by the Staff Selection Commission under the quota reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidates and was selected to the post of Assistant Accounts Officer (AAO). At the time of joining the said post on 30.07.2020, the applicant submitted a caste certificate dated 02.02.2017, certifying that she belongs to the ‘Lohara (Lohar)’ com