Indian Kanoon - Search engine for Indian Law

17. The aforesaid view is fortified by the settled position of law that a certificate issued by a competent authority, such as the one alluding to the status of an individual belonging to SC or ST category, serves merely as an affirmation or acknowledgement of an existing fact. If an individual belongs to the SC or ST category, such status is determined by birth and is an inherent characteristic of an individual. Unlike the status of individuals belonging to the Other Backward Classes-Non Creamy Layer ["OBC- NCL"] category, which has a scope of mobility and may change with the passage of time as the validity of OBC-NCL certificate has a direct nexus with the financial income, the identity of the individuals claiming reservation through SC category remains immutable. The purpose of the an SC or ST certificate is to provide formal recognition of their status, enabling the authorities to rely on the documentation of the candidate and to extend the benefits accorded to individuals belonging to the said category. By acting as proof of an individual's caste status, this acknowledgement Digitally Signed Digitally Signed Signing Date:16.12.2024 By:PURUSHAINDRA 19:11:41 7 KUMAR KAURAV facilitates seamless interactions with government and institutional frameworks. In other words, such certificate only confirms an individual's caste status, it does not create or confer it. Instead, the caste status exists independently of the certificate and is derived from the individual's lineage and social categorization at birth.

52. The Division Bench relied upon Hari Singh v. Staff Selection Commission21, wherein, the candidate had initially produced a defective certificate but later, after the cut-off date, produced the correct certificate and the court had ruled that cut-off date must be interpreted and understood as benefitting an OBC category candidate as opposed to ousting him. The interpretation in Hari Singh (supra) was based upon the constitutional scheme and purpose of reservation and was in line with the pronouncement of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Valsamma Paul (supra), which is reiterated in Anil Kumar (supra), wherein, it was held that -- the cut-off date is meant to signify that the subsequent falling of an OBC candidate into the creamy layer beyond the cut-off date would not affect their OBC status for the purpose of exam/application. Meaning thereby, that there would be no difficulty in accepting an OBC certificate even beyond the cut-off date as it could not be the case that a candidate fell inside the creamy layer prior to such date. What is more probable is the candidate becoming a part of the creamy layer after the issuance of the certificate. The material part of Anil Kumar (supra) which relies upon Hari Singh (supra) reads as under:--

Digitally Signed                                                                    Digitally Signed

Signing Date:16.12.2024                                                             By:PURUSHAINDRA
19:11:41                                                     13                     KUMAR KAURAV

"47. The prescription in the public notice in question that the closing date for receipt of application would be treated as the date of reckoning of OBC status of the candidate and also for ascertaining that the candidate does not fall in the creamy layer, in our view, is a prescription evolved for the benefit of the candidates belonging to OBC category and not for the purpose of ousting them from the benefit of reservation. What the NOTE under Clause 4(B) (set out in para 5 above) provides is that, if a candidate is certified as being an OBC category candidate not falling within the creamy layer prior to the close of the date of submission of applications (i.e. 14.09.2007 in this case) then the candidate would be treated as an OBC candidate not falling in the creamy layer for the purpose of the examination in question, and the issue that the candidate may have come into the creamy layer subsequently, i.e. after the date of closing, would not be relevant or gone into to deny the benefit of reservation to such a candidate.

48. The prescription in the NOTE appended to Clause 4(B) does not get whittled down merely by acceptance of an OBC certificate issued on a later date. A candidate who is certified as belonging to an OBC and as not belonging to the creamy layer on a later date than the one fixed by the public advertisement cannot be assumed to be as falling under the creamy layer on any date prior to the date of issuance of the certificate. There would be no basis for such an assumption. The possibility of such an eventuality is highly remote. In fact, the greater probability is that a candidate who may have been certified as an OBC candidate falling outside the creamy layer, may actually get covered by the creamy layer on a later date.