The Delhi High Court has held that the enlistment of a backward class for grant of reservation is religion-neutral..The judgment was passed by a Division Bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rajnish Bhatnagar in a petition by the Central Government assailing an order passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal, Principal Bench..The respondent, Anuragbachan Singh, had preferred an original application before the CAT, claiming that even though he belonged to the OBC category/‘Jat’ community and had secured an overall rank of 673 in the 2017 Civil Services Examination (CSE), he had not been allocated a service. Meanwhile, another OBC category candidate who had secured the rank of 675, was allocated to the Indian Revenue Service (IT)..The Centre had not selected and allocated a service to the respondent as an OBC candidate on the ground that the respondent belonged to the ‘Jat Sikh’ community..Relying on a Central Government OM dated November 6, 2011, the Tribunal had allowed the original application preferred by the respondent. The OM had inducted the Jat caste/community in the Central List of OBCs for Rajasthan (except Bharatpur & Dhaulpur Districts)..In the appeal, the respondent argued that the caste ‘Jat’ was enlisted as a backward class, and merely because the certificate described him as ‘Jat Sikh’ since he followed the Sikh religion, it would not take away the fact that he belonged to the Jat Community. The respondent thus submitted that he was entitled to reservation..To clarify the matter, the respondent also produced another class certificate issued by the SDM, Sri Ganganagar (Rajasthan) which described his community as ‘Jat’..To defend the respondent’s non-selection, the Centre relied upon a communication dated June 1, 2017 issued by the Deputy Secretary, Government of India addressed to the Joint Secretary UPSC, and a specific communication issued in relation to the respondent dated June 7, 2018 addressed by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to the Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. The two communications, the Centre informed, stated that ‘Jat Sikh’ community did not fall in the Central List of OBC for the State of Rajasthan..Rejecting the argument, the High Court observed that both these communications did not specifically refer to or deal with the November 2001 OM pertaining to the inclusion of the Jat community in the Central List of OBCs for Rajasthan..“They are both contrary to the aforesaid OM and, therefore, are incorrect. They also ignore the decisions of two High Courts relied upon by the respondent. Thus, these communications, in our view, are of no avail.”.The Court further stated that the enlistment of the backward class for the purposes of grant of reservation is religion-neutral..“That being the position, merely because the respondent’s religion i.e. Sikhism was mentioned in class certificate issued to the respondent, it did not take way the fact that he belonged to the ‘JAT Community which is a reserved class.”.It was further noted that the SDM, Sri Ganganagar (Rajasthan) had even issued a subsequent class certificate to the respondent, leaving no manner of doubt that the respondent belonged to the Jat community which is a reserved class in the Central List for the State..Accordingly, the Court found no merit in Centre’s petition and dismissed it..The Centre was represented by Advocates Suparna Srivastava and Sanjna Dua..The respondent was represented by Advocate Mukesh Kumar..Read the Judgment:.Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real-time updates on stories, click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp.
The Delhi High Court has held that the enlistment of a backward class for grant of reservation is religion-neutral..The judgment was passed by a Division Bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rajnish Bhatnagar in a petition by the Central Government assailing an order passed by the Central Administrative Tribunal, Principal Bench..The respondent, Anuragbachan Singh, had preferred an original application before the CAT, claiming that even though he belonged to the OBC category/‘Jat’ community and had secured an overall rank of 673 in the 2017 Civil Services Examination (CSE), he had not been allocated a service. Meanwhile, another OBC category candidate who had secured the rank of 675, was allocated to the Indian Revenue Service (IT)..The Centre had not selected and allocated a service to the respondent as an OBC candidate on the ground that the respondent belonged to the ‘Jat Sikh’ community..Relying on a Central Government OM dated November 6, 2011, the Tribunal had allowed the original application preferred by the respondent. The OM had inducted the Jat caste/community in the Central List of OBCs for Rajasthan (except Bharatpur & Dhaulpur Districts)..In the appeal, the respondent argued that the caste ‘Jat’ was enlisted as a backward class, and merely because the certificate described him as ‘Jat Sikh’ since he followed the Sikh religion, it would not take away the fact that he belonged to the Jat Community. The respondent thus submitted that he was entitled to reservation..To clarify the matter, the respondent also produced another class certificate issued by the SDM, Sri Ganganagar (Rajasthan) which described his community as ‘Jat’..To defend the respondent’s non-selection, the Centre relied upon a communication dated June 1, 2017 issued by the Deputy Secretary, Government of India addressed to the Joint Secretary UPSC, and a specific communication issued in relation to the respondent dated June 7, 2018 addressed by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to the Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. The two communications, the Centre informed, stated that ‘Jat Sikh’ community did not fall in the Central List of OBC for the State of Rajasthan..Rejecting the argument, the High Court observed that both these communications did not specifically refer to or deal with the November 2001 OM pertaining to the inclusion of the Jat community in the Central List of OBCs for Rajasthan..“They are both contrary to the aforesaid OM and, therefore, are incorrect. They also ignore the decisions of two High Courts relied upon by the respondent. Thus, these communications, in our view, are of no avail.”.The Court further stated that the enlistment of the backward class for the purposes of grant of reservation is religion-neutral..“That being the position, merely because the respondent’s religion i.e. Sikhism was mentioned in class certificate issued to the respondent, it did not take way the fact that he belonged to the ‘JAT Community which is a reserved class.”.It was further noted that the SDM, Sri Ganganagar (Rajasthan) had even issued a subsequent class certificate to the respondent, leaving no manner of doubt that the respondent belonged to the Jat community which is a reserved class in the Central List for the State..Accordingly, the Court found no merit in Centre’s petition and dismissed it..The Centre was represented by Advocates Suparna Srivastava and Sanjna Dua..The respondent was represented by Advocate Mukesh Kumar..Read the Judgment:.Bar & Bench is available on WhatsApp. For real-time updates on stories, click here to subscribe to our WhatsApp.
