http://JUDIS.NIC.IN SUPREME COURT OF INDIA Page 1 of 2  

PETITIONER: PANKAJ KUMAR SAHA

       Vs.

RESPONDENT: THE SUB-DIVISIONAL OFFICER,ISLAMPUR & ORS.

DATE OF JUDGMENT:       12/02/1996

BENCH: RAMASWAMY, K. BENCH: RAMASWAMY, K. G.B. PATTANAIK (J)

CITATION:  1996 AIR 1728            JT 1996 (3)   200  1996 SCALE  (2)441

ACT:

HEADNOTE:

JUDGMENT:                          O R D E R      This Special Leave Petition is filed against  the order of the  Calcutta High  Court dated  April 25,   1994 made in Original Order T.No.2878/92.      Petitioner’s brother  Amal Kumar  Saha was   granted  a Scheduled Caste  certificate on  January 15,   1982  and the petitioner was  granted a  certificate on  January 22, 1982. The certificate  granted to  the elder brother was cancelled on December  20, 1986.  Said elder   brother  approached the High Court  by way of writ  application under Article 226 of the Constitution  which   was registered  as C.O. No.7629 of 1988. The  said writ  application was  disposed of directing petitioner’s   brother to  file a  representation. Even  the representation of  the brother  was rejected by order  dated December 18,  1991. The  petitioner was served with a notice dated January  6, 1992  calling upon  him to show case as to why the  certificate granted to him  would not be cancelled. The petitioner  appeared  before the authority and filed his show cause.   Finally,  by order  dated July  9,  1992,  the certificate was  cancelled. The  petitioner’s elder  brother challenged the  order of  cancellation of his certificate by filing a  writ petition,  which is  still pending.  But  the petitioner’s  writ  petition,  challenging  the    order  of cancellation was  dismissed by  the learned  single Judge on August 27,  1992 and the Division Bench dismissed the appeal in  limine   on  April  25,  1994.Hence  the  special  leave petition.      When the  matter had  come up on the last  occasion, we directed the  learned counsel  to produce  the  Presidential notification published  under Art.341(1) of the Constitution which has been made part of the record. It discloses that as regards  the   State  of   West  Bengal,  item  No.57  Sunri (excluding Saha)  has   been declared to be Scheduled Caste. Admittedly, the name of the petitioner has been described as Saha. He claimed the status as Sunri, a Scheduled Caste.

http://JUDIS.NIC.IN SUPREME COURT OF INDIA Page 2 of 2  

    Article 366(24) defines "Scheduled Castes" to mean such castes, races  or tribes  or part  of or  groups within such castes, races  or tribes  as are deemed under Article 341 to be Scheduled  Castes for  the purpose  of this Constitution, Article 341(1)  provides that the President may with respect to any  State or  Union Territory  and where  it is a State, after consultation  with the  Governor  thereof,  by  public notification, specify  the castes,  races or tribes or parts of or  groups within castes, races or tribes which shall for the purposes  of this Constitution be deemed to be Scheduled Castes in  relation to that State or Union Territory, as the case may be.      It is  seen that  in exercise  of the  said power,  the President had issued the public notification which is called Scheduled Castes  and Schedules  Tribes Order,  1950 and has been  amended   in  1976  after  the  Scheduled  Castes  and Scheduled Tribes  Orders (Amendment)  Act, 1976 was made. As indicated earlier,  Sunri (excluding  Saha) is  a  Scheduled Caste  for   the  purpose  of  State  of  West  Bengal.  The petitioner  admittedly   bears  the   name  of   Saha.   The authorities found  as a  fact that  for over  a century  the petitioner’s family  are Saha  by caste. The President after consultation with  the Governor, has excluded Saha, a liquor business community as Scheduled Caste. Though some Scheduled Castes by  name Sunri  adopted tapping  as profession,  they suffer from  untouchability  while  Sahas,  liquor  business community like  Sethi balija,  Edigal  or  Gowda  in  Andhra Pradesh, are  not Scheduled  Castes. In  the notice given to the petitioner   dalits  were given  and the record produced before the  authorities were  considered  by  the  competent authority which  held  that  Sahas  are  not  the  Scheduled Castes and that, therefore, they cannot be considered  to be Sunris. In  a recent judgment in Nityananda Sharma & Anr. v. State of  Bihar Ors. [JT 1996 (2) SC  117], a Bench of three Judges had  examined the scope of  judicial review and power of the  court to  go into  the   question of synonyms of the caste.      It is  now settled  law that  though  evidence  may  be admissible to  the limited  extent of  finding out whether a caste which  claims the  status as  Scheduled Caste or Tribe was in  fact included  in the  Presidential notification  as amended under  1976 Act,  the court  is devoid  of power  to include in or exclude from or substitute or declare synonyms to be a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe. The courts would only look  into the  notification issued by the President to see whether  the name  finds place in the notification? Saha caste is  expressly excluded  from Sunri,  a Scheduled Caste notified in  the notification  issued by  the  President  in relation to  the State  of West  Bengal which is conclusive. The certificate  issued to  the  petitioner  is,  therefore, clearly unconstitutional  and a  fraud on  the Constitution. The petitioner cannot be considered to be a Scheduled Caste.      Accordingly the Special Leave Petition is dismissed.