Allahabad High Court
Raksharam vs State Of ... on 1 August, 2023
Bench: Ashwani Kumar Mishra, Manish Kumar
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD, LUCKNOW BENCH
?Neutral Citation No. - 2023:AHC-LKO:50576-DB
Court No. - 8
Case :- WRIT - C No. - 13494 of 2020
Petitioner :- Raksharam
Respondent :- State Of U.P.Thru.Prin.Secy.Social Welfare And Ors.
Counsel for Petitioner :- Shikha Srivastava,Suneel Kumar Singh Kalhan
Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.
Hon'ble Ashwani Kumar Mishra,J.
Hon'ble Manish Kumar,J.
This writ petition has been filed for a direction upon the fourth respondent to issue a Scheduled Caste Certificate to the petitioner in accordance with the minutes of meeting dated 31.7.2019. An order dated 13.11.2019 is also challenged, which is contained in Annexure-1 to the writ petition, whereby petitioner's application for issuance of such certificate has been declined.
The petitioner claims to belong to Dhadhi caste. According to the petitioner Dhadhi is a sub-caste of Dusadh, which is notified as Scheduled Caste in the State of Uttar Pradesh. Reliance is placed upon a minutes of District Level Caste Scrutiny Committee, which holds that Dhadhi is a sub-caste of Dusadh and a direction has been issued to the competent authority to examine such claims and issue necessary certificate. Grievance of the petitioner is that despite such direction issued by the District Level Caste Scrutiny Committee the issuance of Scheduled Caste certificate has been denied to the petitioner.
Learned State Counsel opposes the prayer made in the writ petition.
Article 341 of the Constitution of India provides for Scheduled Caste and is reproduced hereinafter:-
"341. Scheduled Castes
(1) The President may with respect to any State or Union territory, and where it is a State after consultation with the Governor thereof, by public notification, specify the castes, races or tribes or parts of or groups within castes, races or tribes which shall for the purposes of this Constitution be deemed to be Scheduled Castes in relation to that State or Union territory, as the case may be.
(2) Parliament may by law include in or exclude from the list of Scheduled Castes specified in a notification issued under clause ( 1 ) any caste, race or tribe or part of or group within any caste, race or tribe, but save as aforesaid a notification issued under the said clause shall not be varied by any subsequent notification."
A perusal of the above Article would clearly go to show that a particular caste or race or tribe can be declared as Scheduled Caste only by way of a presidential notification or parliamentary mandate. The notification, which has been produced before the Court, would go to show that Dusadh is notified as a Scheduled Caste in the Utter Pradesh. The question is as to whether the District Level Caste Scrutiny Committee constituted in compliance of the judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of Kumari Madhuri Patil Vs. Additional Commissioner, Tribal Development, reported in AIR 1995 SC 94, would have jurisdiction to include a sub-caste in the caste notified under the presidential notification.
The constitutional scheme is specific and vests the jurisdiction of declaration of a particular caste as Scheduled Caste only by way of a notification issued in terms of Article 341 of the Constitution of India. Such a notification in fact has been issued in terms of Article 341 of the Constitution of India. We have absolutely no doubt that the caste specified in the presidential notification can only be modified by the Parliament. The District Level Caste Determination Authority, constituted under the directions of the Supreme Court, will have no jurisdiction in the matter. The petitioner, therefore, cannot seek enforcement of the direction issued by the District Level Caste Scrutiny Committee.
Unless there is acknowledgement of 'Dhadhi' as Scheduled Caste or a sub-caste of 'Dusadh', by way of a notification issued in accordance with law, the petitioner cannot claim such a right. The District Level Caste Scrutiny Committee has limited jurisdiction of examining as to whether a caste certificate has been validly issued by the competent authority. Such committee cannot delve upon determination of caste itself nor would it have jurisdiction to include a sub-caste as a Scheduled Caste. The rejection of petitioner's claim, therefore, merits no interference.
Writ petition, accordingly, is dismissed.
Order Date :- 1.8.2023
Anil
