The Madras High Court has dismissed the petitions of a retired Chennai Port Trust employee whose Scheduled Tribe status was invalidated by the State Level Scrutiny Committee and whose full pension and terminal benefits were withheld. Following the Full Bench in R. Gurusamy and the Supreme Court in Jagdish Balaram Bahira, the Court held that a community certificate may be verified even after retirement and regardless of a pre-1995 appointment, and that protecting benefits secured on an invalidated claim would perpetuate a fraud on the Constitution.
The Allahabad High Court accepted that conversion does not automatically extinguish Scheduled Tribe status, which remains a question of fact, but dismissed a woman’s petitions after finding she had not produced material showing continuing Bhuiyan customs, community participation and acceptance on the dates of three land purchases.
The Supreme Court refused to entertain a PIL seeking a creamy layer principle for income-tax exemption granted to Scheduled Tribes in the North Eastern Region. CJI Surya Kant-led Bench said the issue concerns legislation and allowed petitioner Ashwini Upadhyay to approach the parliamentary committee.
The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to respond to pleas seeking clear criteria for excluding the creamy layer among Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes from reservation benefits. The petitions rely on the 2024 Constitution Bench verdict allowing sub-classification within SCs and STs to ensure benefits reach the most backward groups.
