No job quota for migrant SC/ST candidates

According to the verdict delivered by a division bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna,candidates who acquire SC/ST certificates in Delhi by virtue of a caste documents held by their parents in another state cannot — as a matter of right — claim reservation in jobs being given by the Delhi government.

“The parents of the respondents may belong to castes notified in terms of Scheduled Caste Order or Scheduled Tribe Order in a particular state,but… they cannot avail of the benefits in Delhi,” the court held.

The order adds that the candidate may not be entitled to reservation privileges even if he has a SC/ST certificate issued by the Delhi government on the basis of papers possessed by his parents in a different state. While the person may seek reservation benefits in Central government jobs or use the certificate for other purposes,such kind of a certificate cannot be used for getting employment on a priority basis,it said.

The court has further held that no candidate can avail job reservation benefits solely on the nomenclature of the caste,because while one caste in a state may qualify as Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST),it may not essentially be listed in the same category in another.

The Delhi government and the DSSSB had moved the High Court in an appeal against a CAT order in August last year,whereby the tribunal — adjudicating a bunch of 19 petitions — had asked the government to consider the claims of applicants for jobs in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

Zubeda Begum,appearing for the government,challenged this by citing a few Supreme Court verdicts. Nawal Kishore Jha,counsel for the MCD,

also contended that it was for the government to frame policies,and the civic agency was

bound by their policy as well as the court verdict.