Holding

The Court held that the 2002 amendment excluding the Mochi caste is constitutionally valid, and therefore the dealership reserved for Scheduled Castes cannot be granted to a person of that excluded sub‑caste, requiring a fresh allotment.

Summary

The Supreme Court examined the validity of the Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order 2nd Amendment, 2002 which excluded the Mochi sub‑caste outside the Dang District and Umargaon Taluka of Valsad District, Gujarat, from Schedule I. The Court held that the President’s power under Article 341 to specify Scheduled Castes is exhaustive and can be altered only by Parliament, making the amendment constitutionally valid. Consequently, a petroleum‑product dealership that had been reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates could not be granted to the appellant, who belonged to the excluded Mochi sub‑caste, and the earlier letter of intent could not be upheld. The Court directed the respondent to re‑allot the dealership afresh in accordance with law. All three civil appeals were dismissed.

Issues considered

The constitutionality of the Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order 2nd Amendment, 2002 excluding the Mochi caste outside specified areas
Whether the President’s power under Article 341 to specify Scheduled Castes is exhaustive and not subject to judicial review
Whether a dealership reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates can be allotted to a person belonging to the excluded Mochi sub‑caste

Legislation cited

Constitution of Indias. Article 341, s. Article 342

Subjects

Scheduled CastesArticle 341Constitutional amendmentReservationPetroleum dealershipJudicial reviewExclusion of casteValidity of amendment

Judgment

SHREE SURAT VALSAD JILLA K.M.G. PARISHAD A
v.
UNION OF INDIA AND ORS.

MAY09, 2007

[S.B. SINHA AND MARKANDEY KA TJU, JJ.] B

Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order, 1950-Schedule I-Amendment
ofSchedule-Excluding sub-caste'Mochi' outside Dang District and Umargaon
Taluka of Va/sad District ofGujarat-Validity of-Held: Amendment is valid- C
The Order of 1950 is exhaustive-It is not for the court to render its opinion
regarding decision of President in confining inclusion of the Caste 'Mochi'
within a particular area-Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order 2nd
Amendment, 2002-Constitution ofIndia, 1950-Article 341-Judicial Review.

Public Distribution-Dealership in Petroleum products-Reserved for D
Scheduled castes candidate-Allotment of-To the candidate belonging to
'Mochi' caste-By amendment to Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order, 1950
caste 'Mochi' excluded from the Schedule-Validity of allotment-Held:
Dealership liable to be cancelled in view of the amendment-Constitution
(Scheduled Caste) Order, 1950.
E
By Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order 2nd Amendment, 2002,
'Mochis' outside the Dang District and Umargaon Taluka ofValsad District
in the State of Gujarat were excluded from Schedule I to the Constitution
(Scheduled Caste) Order 1950. A Notification to that effect issued by Central
Government was adopted by State of Gujarat by a Resolution dated 18.2.2003.
The amendment and the resolutions were challenged and the High Court F
upheld the validity thereof. Hence, the two appeals.

Third appeal pertains to grant of dealership in petroleum products. The
dealership reserved for Scheduled Caste candidate was allotted to the
appellant, who belonged to sub-category of 'Mochi'. Allotment was challenged G
in view of the resolution dated 8.2.2003 excluding the sub-caste from Schedule
I to the Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order, 1950. High Court cancelled
the dealership allotted to the appellant.

257 H
258 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007] 6 S.C.R.

A Dismissing the appeals, the Court

HELD: 1.1. The Constitution provides for declaration of certain castes
and tribes as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in terms of Articles
341 and 342 of the Constitution of India. The object of the said provisions
is to provide for grant of protection to the backward class of citizens who are
B specified in the Scheduled Castes Order and Scheduled Tribes Order having
regard to the economic and educationally backwardness wherefrom they
suffer. The President of India alone in terms of Article 341 (1) of the

C
Constitution of India is authorized to issue an appropriate notification
therefore. The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 made in terms
of Article 341 (1) is exhaustive. It is, therefore, not for the court to render
its opinion as to whether the President was correct in confining inclusion of
the caste Mochi within a particular area. Thus, no case has been made out
-
for declaring the impugned legislation as unconstitutional.
(Para 9, 10 and 11) (262-E, F, G)

1.2. It cannot be said that the superior courts should exercise a wider
D power in respect of such a matter in view of the fact that the legislative power
of the Parliament under Article 341 (2) of the Constitution of India is of
special nature and not plenary. (Para 6) (261-A)

1.3. By reason of Article 341, the Constitution authorized the President
to specify the castes, race or tribes or parts of or groups within castes, races
E or tribes which shall for the purposes thereof be deemed to be Scheduled
Castes in relation to that State or Union Territory by public notification. Such
notification issued under Clause (1) shall not be varied by any subsequent
notification as provided by Clause (2) of Article 341 except by the President.
As and when States were formed, the President had power to issue notification
as for that State such notification would not be a variation of the existing
F notification, but a fresh notification which could, after its issuance, n-0t be
varied by the President. It provides for a composite scheme. The modalities
for issuance of public notification under Article 341 have been prescribed to
enable the President to exercise his power in relation to a State wherefor
consultation with the Governor is required to be done. Scheduled Castes are
G specified for the purpose of the Constitution. If power can be exercised not
only for a caste or a part of group within the caste, it can also include a part
of the State. [Para 4] [260-D-E, F, G) -
E. V. Chinnaiah v. Slate ofAndhra Pradesh, AIR 2005 SC 162: [2005)1
SCC 394 and State of Maharashtra v. Mi/ind and Ors., [2001) 1 SCC 4,
H referred to
--
SHREESURATVALSADJILLA K.M.G. PARISHADv. U.O.l. [S.B. SINHA,J.] 259
2. Dealership in question was reserved for Scheduled Caste candidate. A
Appellant stands excluded from the said category. Only because a letter of
intent had been issued in favour of the appellant, the same should not be
directed to be continued keeping in view the constitutional scheme in mind.
Therefore, it is directed that Respondent No.2 shall proceed to allot the
dealership outlet afresh and grant dealership in petroleum products in B
accordance with law. [Para 16 and 171 [263-E, F, GJ

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 2412 of2007.

From the Final Judgment and Order dated 05.02.2004 of the High Court
of Gujarat at Ahmedabad in Special Civil Application No. 6165 of2003.
c
WITH

C.A. Nos. 2413 and 2414 of2007.

Vimal Chandra S. Dave, P.H. Parekh, Sameer Parekh, D.P. Mohanty, Salin
Mehta and Sumeet Lall (for P.H. Parekh & Co.) for the Appellant. D
Mohan Parasaran, ASG., Chidananda D.L., Naveen Prakash, Gaurav
Agrawal, D.S. Mahra, Saroj Raichura, H.A. Raichura, C.G. Sivakumaran, Hazefa
Ahmadi, Nakul Dewan, Ejaz Maqbool, Vikas Singh, Taruna Singh, Hernantika
Wahi, Shivangi, S.C. Patel and A.K. Sanghi for the Respondents.
E
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

S.B. SINHA, J. 1. Leave granted.

2. Validity of Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Orders 2nd Amendment
2002, whereby and whereunder the 'Mochis' outside the Dang District and F
Umargaon Taluka ofValsad District in the State of Gujarat were excluded from
Schedule I to the Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order 1950, was in question
before the Gujarat High Court. Its validity has been upheld by the High Court
holding:

"29. For the foregoing reasons, the challenge of the petitioner against G
the impugned Amendment Act of 2002 and the imposition of area
restriction in respect of the Mochi caste as done in the varied entry
4 of the Order of 1950, as well as against the impugned Government
Resolution dated 18-2-2003 fails and the contentions raised on behalf
of the petitioner and the supporting respondent No. I 0 have no H
260 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007] 6 S.C.R.

A substance. The petition is, therefore, rejected. Rule is discharged. "f
There shall be no order as to costs."
,_
3. Article 341 of the Constitution of India reads as under:

"341. Scheduled Castes-
B (I) 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
c state or Union territory, as the case may be.

(2) Parliament may by law include in or exclude from the list of
Scheduled Castes specified in a notification issued under clause (l)
any caste, race or tribe or part of or group within any caste, race or
tribe, but save as aforesaid notification issued under the said clause
D shall not be varied by any subsequent notification."

4. By reason of the aforementioned provision, the Constitution authorized
~
the President to specify the castes, race or tribes or parts of or groups within
~
castes, races or tribes which shall for the purpose thereof be deemed to be
Scheduled Castes in relation to that State or Union Territory by public
E notification. Such notification issued under Clause ( l) shall not be varied by
any subsequent notification. Such notification as provided by Clause (2) of
Article 341 expect by the President. As and when States were formed, the
President had power to issue notification as for that State such notification
would not be a variation of the existing notification, but a fresh notification
which could, after its issuance, not be varied by the President. It provides for
F a composite scheme. The modalities for issuance of public notification under
Article 341 have been prescribed to enable the President to exercise his power
in relation to a State wherefor consultation with the Governor is required to
be done. Scheduled Castes are specified for the purpose of the Constitution.
if power can be exercised not only for a caste or a part of group within the
G caste, in our opinion, it can also include a part of the State.

5. By a notification dated 18.12.2002 issued by the Central Government,
..
H
the entry 'Mochi' for the State of Gujarat except the Dang District and
Umargaon Taluka of Valsad District has been deleted. The State of Gujarat
Maharashtra adopted the said notification on 18.02.2003 and it was implemented
from 18.12.2002.
--
SHREESURATVALSADJILLA K.M.G. PARISHADv. U.0.1. [S.B. S!NHA,J.) 26J
6. Submission of the learned counsel for the appellants, however, is that A
the superior courts should exercise a wider power ofjudicial review in respect
of such a matter in view of the fact that the legislative power of the Parliament
under Article 341 (2) of the Constitution of India is of special nature and not
plenary. we do not agree. List prepared by the President under Article 341 (I)
of the Constitution of India forms one class of homogeneous group. Only one
list is to be prepared by the President and if any amendment thereto is to B
be made, the same is to be done by the Parliament. Even the State does not
have any legislative competence to alter the same.

7. The question came up for consideration before a Constitution Bench
of this Court in E. V. Chinnaiah v. State ofAndhra Pradesh AIR (2005) SC C
162: [2005] I SCC 394, wherein it was held:
"13. We will first consider the effect of Article 341 of the Constitution
and examine whether the State could, in the guise of providing
reservation for the weaker of the weakest, tinker with the Presidential
List by subdividing the castes mentioned in the Presidential List into
different groups. Article 341 which is found in Part XVI of the D
Constitution refers to special provisions relating to certain classes
which includes the Scheduled Castes. This article provides that the
President may with respect to any State or Union Territory after
consultation with the Governor thereof by public notification, specify
the Castes, races or tribes or parts of or groups within castes, races E
or tribes which shall for the purposes of this Constitution be deemed
to be Scheduled Castes in relation to that State or Union Territory.
This indicates that there can be only one list of Scheduled Castes in
regard to a State and that list should include all specified castes, races
or tribes or part or groups notified in that Presidential List. Any
inclusion or exclusion from the said list can only be done by Parliament F
under Article 341 (2) of the Constitution. In the entire Constitution
wherever reference has been made to "Scheduled Castes" it refers
only to the list prepared by the President under Article 341 and there
is no reference to any sub classification or division in the said list
except, maybe, for the limited purpose of Article 330, which refers to
reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes in the House of the People, G
which is not applicable to the facts of this case. It is also clear from
Article 341 that except for a limited power of making an exclusion or
inclusion in the list by an Act of Parliament there is no provision
either to subdivide, sub classify or subgroup these castes which are
found in tht: Presidential List of Scheduled Castes. Therefore, it is H
262 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2007) 6 S.C.R.

A clear that the Constitution intended all the castes including the
subcastes, races and tribes mentioned in the list to be members of one
group for the purpose of the Constitution and this group could not
be subdivided for any purpose. A reference to the Constituent
Assembly in this regard may be useful at this stage."
B 8. We may notice that in State of Maharashtra v. Mi/ind and Ors.,
[2001] 1 SCC 4, a Constitution Bench of this Court opined:
"l l. By vritue of powers vested under Articles 341 and 342 of the
Constitution of India, the President is empowered to issue public
notification for the first time specifying the castes, races or tribes or
part of or groups within castes, races, or tribes which shall, for the
c purpose of the Constitution be deemed to be Scheduled Castes or
Scheduled Tribes in relation to a State or Union Territory, as the case
may be. The language and terms of Articles 341 and 342 are identical.
What is said in relation to Article 341 mutatis mutandis applies to
Article 342. The laudable object of the said articles is to provide
D additional protection to the members of the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes having regard to social and educational
backwardness from which they have been suffering since a
considerable length of time. The words 'castes' or 'tribes' in tllf~
expression 'Scheduled Castes' or and 'Scheduled Tribes' are not U'.
in the ordinary sense of the terms but are used in the sense of
E definitions contained in Articles 366 (24) and 366(25)."
9. The Constitution provides for declaration of certain castes and trib
as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in terms of Article 341 and 34:
of the Constitution of India. The object of the said provisions is to providl
for grant of protection to the backward class of citizens who are specified in
F the Scheduled Castes Order and Scheduled Tribes Order having regard to the
economic and educationally backwardness wherefrom they suffer. The
President of India alone in tenns of Article 341 (I) of the Constitution of India
is authorized to issue an appropriate notification therefor. The Constitution
(Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 made in tenns of Article 341 (1) is exhaustive.
G 10. It is, therefore, not for the court to render its opinion as to whether
the President was correct in confining inclusion of the caste Mochi within a
particular area.

11. We, therefore, agree with the High Court that no case has been made·
out for declaring the impugned legislation as unconstitutional.
H
SHREE SURAT VALSAD JILLA K.M.G. PARJSHAD v. U.0.1. [S.B. SINHA, J.] 263
12. We may, however, notice that Civil Appeal arising out of SLP (C) No. A
9198 of 2004 relates to grant of a dealership in petroleum products. It was
reserved for a Scheduled Caste candidate. Appellant in this appeal was a
candidate therefor. Both the appellant as also Respondent No. 1 appeared for
an interview for allotment of dealership held on 09.09.2003. Appellant was
placed at SL No. l, whereas Respondent No. 1 was placed at SI. No. 2 of the
merit list. B
13. Respondent No. 1 made a representation before Respondent No. 2
on the ground that the selection of the appellant was not justified as he
belonged to the sub-category of Mochi as per the resolution dated 18.02.2003.
Respondent No. 1 further filed a Special Civil Application No. 14660of2003
for setting aside the action of Respondent No. 2 to place the appellant at SI. C
No. 1. The Same was allowed by a learned Single Judge of the High Court
by an order dated 22.03.2004.

14. A letter of intent was issued in favour of Respondent No. l on
6.05.2004 and a letter of allotment was issued on 13 ..5.2004.
D
15. However, in the meantime a public interest litigation was filed by
Samasta Gujarat Rajya Mochi Samaj (Appellant in Civil Appeal arising out of
SLP (C) No. 9063 of 2004), challenging the resolution dated 18.02.2003 issued
by the State of Gujarat, which by reason of the impugned judgment dated
5.02.2004 has been dismissed. Appellant in Civil Appeal arising out of SLP
(C) No. 8539 of 2004 is, thus, also before us. E
16. As the matter related to Civil Appeal arising out of SLP (C) No. 9198
of 2004 pertains to grant of dealership, the learned counsel would submit that
we may direct continuation of the said grant irrespective of the decision in
the main matter. Deali;:rship in question was reserved for Scheduled Caste
candidate. Appellant stands excluded from the said category. If that be so, F
we are of the opinion, that only because a letter of intent had been issued
in favour of the appellant, the same should not be directed to be continued
keeping in view the constituitonal scheme in mind.

17. We, therefore, direct that Respondent No. 2 shall proceed to allot
the dealership outlet of Patan in the State of Gujarat afresh and grant dealership G
in petroleum products in accordance with law.

18. For the reasons aforementioned, these appeals are dismissed. No
costs.

K.K.T. Appeals dismissed. H