Jatav Woman’s Permanent-Resident Certificate Alone Doesn’t Entitle Her To A Caste Certificate: Uttarakhand HC Says Other Conditions And An Affidavit Are Required

Upma Bharti applied for a caste certificate on the basis that she belonged to the Jatav community, which is recognised as a Scheduled Caste in Uttarakhand. Her application was rejected for failure to provide supporting evidence required under the applicable Government Order. She challenged the rejection in a writ petition.

The Single Judge allowed the petition, reasoning that her permanent resident certificate supported issuance of a caste certificate under clause 4(vii) of the Government Order dated 2 April 2013, and directed the authority to issue one.

The State appealed. The connected appeals raised the same questions concerning interpretation of that Government Order.

The Court applied the Government Order dated 2 April 2013 as a composite instrument.

Paragraph 4 sets out conditions for permanent resident status, and clause 4(vii) makes permanent residence relevant when considering an application for a caste certificate; it does not make a permanent resident certificate sufficient, by itself, to establish entitlement.

Paragraph 7 additionally requires an applicant to provide an affidavit stating, among other things, that neither the applicant nor a family member has obtained or will seek a caste certificate in another State, and that neither has received the relevant reserved-category benefits in another State.

No statute or judicial precedent was relied upon in the judgment.

The Single Judge treated clause 4(vii) as making a permanent resident certificate determinative of entitlement to a caste certificate.

The Division Bench held that clause 4(vii) identifies permanent residence as a relevant prerequisite, not as an automatic qualification.

Read as a whole, the Government Order also requires compliance with its other eligibility conditions and the affidavit requirements in paragraph 7.

Because the Single Judge overlooked paragraph 7 and directed issuance of the certificate on the basis of permanent residence, the judgment could not stand.

It allowed the special appeals, set aside the Single Judge’s judgment, and left the respondents at liberty to apply afresh under the Government Order.

Any fresh applications accompanied by the required affidavit must be considered according to law within four months.