Jaipur: Rajasthan High Court has dismissed an appeal filed by a woman from Gujarat seeking the benefit of Scheduled Tribe (ST) reservation in the recruitment for Nursing Officer posts in Rajasthan, holding that a person belonging to a reserved category in one state cannot automatically claim the same reservation benefits after migrating to another state.A division bench of Justice Vinit Kumar Mathur and Justice Chandra Shekhar Sharma passed the order on Nov 5, while dismissing a special appeal filed by Baria Sharmishtha Ben against the dismissal of her writ petition by a single bench of the high court on Sept 23.The appellant belonged to a caste recognised as ST in Gujarat. After marrying a person belonging to the same caste in Rajasthan, she shifted to the state and applied for the post of Nursing Officer, claiming reservation under the ST category. However, the state authorities rejected her claim under the reserved category and considered her candidature under the general category.Arguing for the appellant, advocate CS Kotwani contended that her caste was recognised as ST in both Gujarat and Rajasthan and, therefore, she was entitled to be considered under the ST category. He sought quashing of the single judge’s order and a direction to the state to consider her candidature under the reserved category.Opposing the appeal, Additional Advocate General NS Rajpurohit submitted that Supreme Court had repeatedly clarified that reserved-category benefits are state-specific.Explaining the reason for dismissal, the division bench relied on previous Supreme Court judgments. “Reservation is granted keeping in view the specific social disadvantages and hardships faced by communities in a particular state. These conditions may differ from one state to another, even if the caste or tribe has the same nomenclature,” the court observed.The bench held that a candidate belonging to the ST category in a state other than Rajasthan, applying for a post under an advertisement stipulating consideration under the general category, would automatically be disentitled to claim ST reservation in Rajasthan. Finding no force in the appeal, the court upheld the single judge’s decision.
