Stay on declaration of Gadaria community as scheduled castes

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday restrained Haryana government from issuing schedule caste certificates to Gadaria community and stayed July 2019 notification whereby the community was included in the list of scheduled castes. The high court bench of chief justice RS Jha and justice Arun Palli acted on the plea of a society, Dr Ambedkar Mission Sanstha. The detailed order is awaited.

The society had challenged two notifications, one of July 2019 whereby ‘Gadaria’ caste was added as a synonyms of ‘Sansi’ caste and July 2020 notification with which it was directed that scheduled caste certificate be issued to the members of caste.

The court was told by senior advocate VK Jindal that Article 341 of the Constitution specifically provides that the President may with respect to any state, with consultation of the governor, by public notification, specify the castes, races or tribes or parts of or groups within castes, races or tribes as scheduled castes. It also provides that it is legislative competence of the parliament to modify such a list.

However, Haryana government, under the premise that the ‘Gadaria’ caste is a sub caste of ‘Sansi’, has amended the central list of scheduled castes even as it had no legislative competence to amend, vary, modify or clarify the list issued by the Centre, the court was told adding that the caste ‘Gadaria’ is still part of central list of other backward classes at serial number 27 and exclusion of the same from that list would require the recommendation of the backward classes commission which has not been done as yet, the court was told.

THE HIGH COURT BENCH OF CHIEF JUSTICE RS JHA AND JUSTICE ARUN PALLI ACTED ON THE PLEA OF A SOCIETY THAT HAD CHALLENGED TWO NOTIFICATIONS