Chandigarh Housing Board (Allotment, Management and Sale of Tenements) Regulations, 1979 – Reservation – Allotment of houses – Exclusively for Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes – The respondent herein had sought for allotment of HIG house reserved for Scheduled Tribes category in terms of the advertisement issued by the appellant-Chandigarh Housing Board; that being aggrieved by non-allotment of a house, a suit was filed by the respondent – The suit was decreed by the Trial Court and judgment and decree was affirmed by the First Appellate Court as well as in the second appeal by the High Court – Propriety:
Held: The Presidential notification of a tribe or tribal community as a Scheduled Tribe by the President of India u/Art. 342 is a sine qua non for extending any benefits to the said community in any State or U.T. – This implies that a person belonging to a group that is recognized as a Scheduled Tribe in a State would be recognized a Scheduled Tribe only within the said State and not in a U.T. where he migrates if no such Presidential notification exists in the said U.T. – In the instant case, merely because the appellant herein had issued a Notification calling for applications from both Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes did not confer any benefit by that Notification on the respondent herein when there is no Presidential Order u/Art. 342 of the Constitution of India issued with regard to Scheduled Tribes insofar as Union Territory of Chandigarh is concerned – The said basic foundational fact goes against the respondent herein and the invitation given by the appellant/Housing Board to Scheduled Tribes was in fact contrary to the said basic tenets as well as the prevalent law and by that reason, the respondent herein cannot also seek any estoppel as against the appellant herein – The impugned judgment of the High Court affirming the judgment of the First Appellate Court, which in turn affirms the judgment of the Trial Court are all liable to be set aside. [Paras 26, 31]
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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