CHANDIGARH HOUSING BOARD versus TARSEM LAL

Citation: [2024] 2 S.C.R. 371 · Decided: 07-02-2024 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: B.V. NAGARATHNA

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Judgment (excerpt)

[2024] 2 S.C.R. 371 : 2024 INSC 119
Chandigarh Housing Board 
v. 
Tarsem Lal
(Civil Appeal No. 1788 of 2024)
07 February 2024
[B.V. Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih, JJ.]
Issue for Consideration
Whether a notification issued by the appellant-Chandigarh Housing 
Board calling for applications from both Schedule Castes and 
Scheduled Tribes confer any benefit on the respondent (who 
belonged to the Schedule Tribes community as recognised in the 
State of Rajasthan and was living in Chandigarh for twenty years) 
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.
Headnotes
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 
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[2024] 2 S.C.R.
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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]
Case Law Cited
Bhaiya Lal v. Harikishan Singh, [1965] 2 SCR 877 : AIR 
1965 SC 1557; State of Maharashtra v. Milind, [2000]
Suppl. 5 SCR 65 : (2001) 1 SCC 4; Action Committee 
on Issue of Caste Certificate to Scheduled Castes and 
Scheduled Tribes in the State of Maharashtra vs. Union 
of India [1994] Suppl. 1 SCR 714 : (1994) 5 SCC 244 
– followed.
Marri Chandra Shekhar Rao vs. Dean, Seth G. S. 
Medical College, [1990] 2 SCR 843 : (1990) 3 SCC 
130 – relied on.
Bir Singh vs. Delhi Jal Board, [2018] 10 SCR 513 : 
(2018) 10 SCC 312; Director, Transport Department, 
Union Territory Administration of Dadra and Nagar 
Haveli, Silvassa vs. Abhinav Dipakbhai Patel, (2019) 6 
SCC 434 – held inapplicable.
List of Acts
Constitution of India; Punjab Reorganization Act, 1966; Chandigarh 
Housing Board (Allotment, Management and Sale of Tenements) 
Regulations, 1979.
List of Keywords
Advertisement for dwelling units; Reservation; Allotment of 
houses exclusively for Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes; 
Presidential Order u/Art. 342; Presidential notification of a tribe 
[2024] 2 S.C.R. 
373
Chandigarh Housing Board v. Tarsem Lal
or tribal community; Recognition of Scheduled Tribe in a State; 
Migration of Schedule Tribe person to another State or Union 
Territory; Claim of Schedule Tribe status in another State or 
Union Territory.
Case Arising From
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No.1788 of 2024
From the Judgment and Order dated 10.08.2018 of the High Court of 
Punjab & Haryana at Chandigarh in RSA No. 1570 of 1991
Appearances for Parties
Mrs. Rachana Joshi Issar, Svarit Uniyal Mishra, Ms. Nidhi Tewari, 
Advs. for the Appellant.
Shivendra Singh, Bikram Dwivedi, Puneett Sin

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