The High Court in the Indian capital Delhi has recently clarified that the OBC certificate issued by the Delhi authorities cannot be considered a 'migrant' certificate just because it is based on the caste certificate from another state.
The decision came in GNCTD vs Nisha (W.P.(C) 373/2024), where the Delhi government had challenged the order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) directing the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB) to treat respondent Nisha as eligible for OBC reservation.
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A division bench of Justices C. Hari Shankar and Ajay Digpaul said:
"The certificate has to be read as it is. It has not been issued to the respondent merely because she is a migrant."
The court said Nisha's OBC certificate issued by the Delhi revenue authorities clearly shows her to be a resident of Delhi and belonging to the Jat community, which is recognised as an OBC in Delhi. Merely because the certificate was issued on the basis of her father's caste certificate obtained from Uttar Pradesh, its validity does not change.
"The mere fact that this certificate has been issued on the basis of an OBC certificate issued to the respondent's father in Uttar Pradesh does not take away from what is already mentioned in the certificate," the bench said.
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The DSSSB had argued that since the caste certificate was based on the document issued by Uttar Pradesh, Nisha should be treated as an unreserved candidate in Delhi. However, the court disagreed.
The bench firmly said, "We are not willing to read anything into the certificate which has no place in it."
The court also criticised the DSSSB for not issuing prior notice to Nisha before rejecting her claim for OBC reservation. The court said such action should not have been taken without giving her an opportunity to explain.
The court observed, "The rejection… is not due to any defect in the OBC certificate… The petitioners are trying to justify the rejection by reading such conditions into the OBC certificate which are not found therein." It further stated that the certificate was issued by the revenue authorities of Delhi and fulfilled all the conditions as per the recruitment advertisement issued by the DSSSB.
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Thus, the High Court upheld the CAT decision and dismissed the plea filed by the Delhi government, allowing Nisha to avail the benefit of OBC reservation in Delhi.
Appearance:
On behalf of GNCTD: Mrs. Avnish Ahlawat, Mr. Nitesh Kumar Singh, Ms. Lavanya Kaushik, Mr. Mohnish Sahrawat, Ms. Aliza Alam
On behalf of the Respondent: Mr. M.K. Bharadwaj, Ms. Priyanka M. Bharadwaj, Mr. Maria Mugesh Kannan