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2026 Supreme(Guj) 1302
IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
N.S.SANJAY GOWDA, J. L. ODEDRA, JJ.
Employees' Provident Fund Organization & Ors. – Appellant
Versus
Ranjit Vasantlal Makwana – Respondent
Special Civil Application No. 21004 of 2016
Decided On : 17-07-2026
Act Referred
REORGANISATION ACT : S.26, S.41
BIHAR AND WEST BENGAL TRANSFER OF TERRITORIES ACT : S.14
Advocate Appeared:
For the Appellant : Mr Rajesh K. Savjani
For the Respondent: Himanshi R. Balodi
JUDGMENT :
(PER : HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE N.S.SANJAY GOWDA)
| SR. NO. | HEADING | PAGE NO. | |
| I | FACTS LEADING TO THE FILING OF THIS PETITION | 2 | |
| II | SUBMISSIONS ON BEHALF OF THE PETITIONER | 4 | |
| III | SUBMISSIONS ON BEHALF OF THE RESPONDENT | 5 | |
| IV | QUESTIONS WHICH ARISE FOR CONSIDERATION IN THIS WRIT PETITION | 8 | |
| V | A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE CASTE SYSTEM | 8 | |
| VI | CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO SCHEDULED CASTES AND TRIBES | 11 | |
| VI(a) | In Part III | 12 | |
| VI(b) | In Part XVI – RELATING TO SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO CERTAIN CLASSES | 14 | |
| VI(c) | In Part XVI RELATING TO SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO CERTAIN CLASSES | 15 | |
| VII | SPECIFICATION OF SCHEDULED CASTES UNDER ARTICLE 341 | 17 | |
| VIII | CHRONOLOGY OF THE SPECIFICATION OF SCHEDULED CASTES BY THE PRESIDENT AND ITS MODIFICATION BY THE PARLIAMENT SINCE 1950 IN RELATION TO GUJARAT | 20 | |
| IX | EFFECT OF INCLUSION, MODIFICATION OR EXCLUSION OF A CASTE FROM THE LIST OF SPECIFIED CASTES UNDER ARTICLE 341 | 27 | |
| X | RE: THE REASONING OF THE CAT | 37 | |
| XI | CONCLUSION | 38 | |
I. FACTS LEADING TO THE FILING OF THIS PETITION
1. Shri R.V. Makwana- respondent herein, was appointed as a Lower Division Clerk (LDC) in the Employees Provident Fund Organization, i.e. the petitioner herein, on 7.4.1995.
2. The respondent secured this appointment under the reserved category of Scheduled Caste since he belonged to the Mochi caste and at that point in time, the Mochi caste was specified as Schedule Caste in the State of Gujarat by virtue of the Constitution Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendment) Act, 1976.
3. In the year 2002, the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders (Second Amendment) Act, 2002 was enacted by the Parliament, by which, area restrictions in respect of Mochis were introduced. By this amendment, it was only those Mochis who hailed from Dang district and Umbergaon taluka of Valsad district in Gujarat were specified as Scheduled Castes.
4. In other words, as against the earlier position of all Mochis in Gujarat, being specified as Scheduled Caste, the Parliament limited the specification of Mochi caste as Scheduled Caste only to those Mochis who hailed from Dang district and Umbergaon taluka of Valsad district.
5. On 31.12.2003, the respondent was promoted to the post of Enforcement Officer/Accounts Officer on his passing of the Departmental examinations, and this promotion was on the basis that he belonged to the reserved category i.e., he belonged to the Schedule Caste.
6. On 29.11.2012, nine years after he had been promoted, the respondent was reverted to his substantive post of Upper Division Clerk with effect from 29.11.2012. This reversion was on the ground that he could not be specified as a Scheduled Caste by virtue of the 2002 Amendment.
7. The respondent, being aggrieved by this reversion, approached the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) by filing O.A.No.498 of 2012.
8. The Tribunal, by the impugned order, took the view that the vacancy to the post to which the respondent herein had been promoted had arisen in 2000, when all Mochis in Gujarat had been specified as Scheduled Caste, and therefore, the order of promotion granted to him was legal and valid. The Tribunal accordingly allowed the application and restored the promotion of the respondent. 9. As a consequence, the EPFO is before this Court questioning the order of the Tribunal.
II. SUBMISSIONS ON BEHALF OF EPFO-THE PETITIONER:
10. Shri Rajesh K. Savjani, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner- EPFO contended that as on the date the respondent was promoted, i.e., in 2003 he could not be specified as Scheduled Caste because of the 2002 Amendment, which specified only Mochis from a specified area to be Schedule Castes and, therefore, he could not have had the benefit of reservation. He submitted that the classification of vacancy in the year 2000 would be of no consequence and it would only be the date of promotion that would be relevant date for the purpose of considering the reserved category status of a candidate. He submitted that since people hailing from the Mochi caste only from two districts were specified as Scheduled
