IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH AT SHIMLA CWP No. 11901 of 2024 th Decided on 25 November, 2024 Smt. Jaswinder Kaur …Petitioner Versus The State of Himachal Pradesh and others …Respondents Coram Hon’ble Mr. Justice Ajay Mohan Goel, Judge

1 Whether approved for reporting?

For the petitioner: Mr. Onkar Jairath, Advocate.

For the respondents: Mr. Pushpinder Jaswal, Additional Advocate General.

Ajay Mohan Goel, Judge (Oral By way of this writ petition, the petitioner has, inter alia, prayed for the following reliefs:-

i) “That the writ in the nature of Certiorari may kindly be issued quashing and setting aside the impugned Office Order dated 16.12.2023, (Annexure P-8), whereby the candidature of the petitioner for the appointment against the post of JBT under OBC Category has been rejected on account of the fact that she belongs to reserved category in the State of Punjab.

ii) That writ in the nature of mandamus may very kindly be issued, directing the respondents to consider the candidature of the petitioner for the post of JBT against the post reserved for OBC Category by recognizing her caste as reserved category in the State of Himachal Pradesh and respondents be further directed to offer her the appointment as JBT Teacher.”

2. The case of the petitioner is that she did her matriculation and +2 from Punjab School Education Board. Thereafter, she did her graduation from Punjab University. The petitioner, in terms of averments made in Para-4 of the petition hails from Village Jhinjri, Tehsil Anandpur Sahib, District Rupnagar, Punjab, as per her parental lineage. She by birth belongs to Saini Caste, which is duly recognized as an Other Backward Class (OBC) by the State of Punjab. The certificate issued in favour of the petitioner to this effect by Tehsildar Una is appended with the petition as Annexure P-3.

3. The petitioner is aggrieved by the fact that in terms of Annexure P-8, dated 16.12.2023, Director Elementary Education has intimated Deputy Director Elementary Education Kangra, H.P., that the women candidates who have applied under SC/ST/OBC category for appointment against the post of JBT on batch wise basis, who do not belong to the said categories due to their parental cast certificate of other State, will be considered under un-reserved category if they fulfill all the conditions of un-reserved category.

4. Learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the petitioner had applied for her being appointed against the post of JBT on batch wise basis under the OBC Category. The petitioner is married in Himachal Pradesh. She is a bonafide Himachali. She has been issued an OBC Certificate by Tehsildar Una after verifying her antecedents from the Government of Punjab and, therefore, the act of the respondents of now taking a call that the petitioner shall be considered for appointment not against a post reserved for OBC Category is bad. Learned counsel has stressed that as the petitioner is married in Himachal, she has a bonafide Himachali Certificate. She is residing in the State of Himachal for a fairly long time, therefore, she cannot be denied appointment under the OBC Category simply on the ground that the OBC Certificate is of the State of the Punjab.

5. Having heard learned counsel for the petitioner, this Court is of the considered view that there is no merit in the present case.

6. It is an admitted fact that the petitioner, though, belongs to an OBC Category, but the OBC Category from her parental lineage is not from the State of Himachal Pradesh but from the State of Punjab. In other words, the petitioner happens to be a candidate of an OBC Category of the State of Punjab. It is settled law that Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe/OBC Certificates, which are issued by a State can be taken into consideration for the purpose of appointment only in that State. In other words, a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe or an OBC candidate of State “A” cannot claim the benefit of the said certificate in State “B”. On these b