The Uttarakhand High Court has delivered a significant judgment stating that Scheduled Caste (SC) women from other states will not be entitled to reservation benefits in government jobs in Uttarakhand, even if they marry SC men from the state. The court clarified that reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is a state-specific right and cannot be transferred automatically through marriage or change of residence.
A single bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari heard the petitions, including the case of Anshu Sagar, originally from Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh. She belongs to the Jatav community, listed as an SC category in UP. After her marriage to a Uttarakhand resident belonging to the SC category, she obtained a caste and permanent residence certificate from Jaspur and applied for teacher recruitment under reserved quota in state primary schools.
However, the Education Department rejected her claim for reservation. She challenged this decision in the High Court, arguing that her caste status should entitle her to reservation in Uttarakhand.
The state government informed the court that as per government orders dated 16 February 2004, reservation for SC/ST categories is valid only for original residents of Uttarakhand. The state argued that caste is determined by birth, and marriage does not change one’s caste status. Therefore, a person born in another state cannot claim reservation merely by obtaining documents in Uttarakhand.
The bench dismissed the petitions, holding that granting reservation based on migration would be contrary to constitutional provisions. The judgment also serves as a clear precedent for future cases involving individuals who settle in Uttarakhand after marriage
