VIJAY SINGH GOND AND ORS. versus UNION OF INDIA AND ORS.

Citation: [2007] 3 S.C.R. 985 · Decided: 13-03-2007 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: C.K. THAKKER, V.S. SIRPURKAR
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Judgment (excerpt)

' 
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A 
VIJA Y SINGH GOND AND ORS. 
v. 
UNION OF INDIA AND ORS. 
MARCH 13, 2007 
B 
[C.K. THAKKER AND V.S. SIRPURKAR, JJ.] 
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendment) Act, 2002: 
Social status-In State of Uttar Pradesh certain communities transferred C 
from list of Schedule Caste to list of Scheduled Tribes-Writ petition filed 
challenging the transfer-Meanwhile, keeping in view the forthcoming State 
Assembly elections, ex-parte interim order prayed/or stay of operation of the 
enactment or to permit members of the communities concerned to contest 
Assembly elections on seats reserved for Scheduled Castes-Rule issued-As D 
regards interim stay, HELD: on/acts and in circumstances of the case, grant 
of interim relief would result in complications and confusions-Virtually it 
would amount to grant of interim relief against legislation as grant of such 
relief would prevent legislation to operate-Besides, the Act came into force 
in January 2003 whereas petition was filed in July 2006-Therefore, interim 
relief refused-Interim Order-Constitution of India-Article 341. 
E 
CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION : Writ Petition (Civil) No. 363 of2006. 
(Under Article 32 of the Constitution of India.) 
WITH 
F 
CIVIL APPEAL NO.------------- OF 2007. 
Arising out of Special Leave Petition (C) Nos. 17001-17003 of2005. 
Shanti Bhushan, Anurga Dubey, Anu Sawheny, D.P. Pandey, Meenesh G 
Dubey and S.R. Setia for the Appellants. 
Gopal Subramanium, ASG, Dinesh Dwivedi, Raj Kumar Gupta, Kamlendra 
Mishra, Rajeev Dubey, Vishwajit Singh, Meenakshi Arora, Survrajyoti Gupta, 
985 
H 
986 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
(2007] 3 S.C.R. 
A Gaurav Agrawal and P. Parmeshwaran for the Respondents. 
B 
c 
D 
The following Order of the Court was delivered : 
ORDER 
I. Rule. 
2. issue notice to the Attorney General for India. 
3. We have heard learned counsel for the parties on interim relief. 
Interim relief prayed by the petitioners in the present petition reads as under: 
(a) 
to pass an ad-interim ex-parte order staying the effect and 
operation of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders 
(Amendment) Act, 2002; or 
(b) to pass an ad-interim ex-parte order permitting the petitioners 
and other members of their communities to contest the 
forthcoming U.P. State Assembly Elections on seats reserved for 
Scheduled Castes; 
(c) 
to pass such other and or further orders as may be deemed fit 
and necessary in the facts of the case. 
E 
4. The case of the petitioners is that they belong to ten communities 
of the State of Uttar Pradesh, which have been transferred from the list of 
Scheduled Castes to the list of Scheduled Tribes under the Scheduled Castes 
and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendment) Act, 2002 (Act X of 2003) 
(hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'). It is the case of the petitioners that they 
belonged to Scheduled Caste. As Scheduled Caste members, they were entitled 
F to exercise and enjoy all fundamental rights, constitutional rights and statutory 
rights as members of Scheduled Caste. Parliament, by the impugned Act, 
sought to exclude certain Scheduled Castes from the category of Scheduled 
Castes and included them in the category of Scheduled Tribes in the purported 
exercise of power under Article 341 of the Constitution. The petitioners 
G asserted that in the State of Uttar Pradesh, before the impugned Act was · 
enacted, there were 69 Scheduled Castes and 5 Scheduled Tribes. After the 
above Act had been enacted, Scheduled Castes would be reduced from 69 to 
52 and Scheduled Tribes would be increased from 5 to 22. Thus, there would 
be reduction of 17 Castes and sub-Castes (I 0 Castes and 7 sub-Castes) and 
addition of 17 Castes in Scheduled Tribes. The impugned action, contended 
H the petitioners, has prejudicially affected the petitioners and several members 
VJJA Y SINGH GOND v. U.0.1. 
987 
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of Scheduled Castes who had all throughout enjoyed benefits as Scheduled A 
Castes. Now, they would be deprived of the said benefits. It was also submitted 
that though there is reduction of 17 Castes and sub-Castes from Scheduled 
Castes, seats in Parliament as also in Legislative Assemblies have not been 
increased or decreased and they have remained as they were, which is also 
violative of the scheme of the Constitution and would be detrimental and B 
adversely affecting the interests of Scheduled Caste persons who were sought 
to be converted to Scheduled Tribes. It would give additional benefit to the 
remain
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