Migrant Scheduled Tribes Can Be Given Benefit Of Reservation In Dadra & Nagar Haveli UT: SC [Read Judgment]

The Supreme Court has observed that that a migrant Scheduled Tribe can be given the benefit of reservation in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

The bench comprising Justice L. Nageswara Rao and Justice MR Shah rejected the contention of the Union Territory that a person should be a local in the Union Territory and amigrant Scheduled Tribes cannot be given the benefit of reservation.

The bench noted that the Presidential Notification issued for the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli extends the benefit of reservation to the Scheduled Tribes mentioned therein on the basis of residence and not on the basis of origin. Altering the word "Resident" in the Presidential Order to "Origin" by an executive order amounted to altering the Presidential Order which is impermissible, the court said. It added:

"A person belonging to a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe which is notified by the President for a Union Territory is entitled to be considered as a reserved candidate provided he is a resident of the said Union Territory."

The UT authorities had stalled the appointment of a person belonging to a scheduled tribe as Assistant Motor Vehicle Inspector on the ground that he is a migrant and not a local. Upholding the High Court judgment in his favour, the bench observed:

"The central issue raised by the Appellants before the High Court was that a person should be a local in the Union Territory which meant that migrant Scheduled Tribes cannot be given the benefit of reservation. The Presidential Notification issued for the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli extends the benefit of reservation to the Scheduled Tribes mentioned therein on the basis of residence and not on the basis of origin. We find no force in the point canvassed by the learned counsel for the Appellants that the reservation for Scheduled Tribes in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli is not available to migrant Scheduled Tribes." 

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