Paduthota Ramachandra And Others Etc. vs Union Of India And Another Etc. on 14 September, 1995
Relying on this decision it was contended that it is open for the original petitioners to establish by evidence that synonyms or equivalent recognised by the Government of Karnataka are realty species of generic term Kotegar or Metri, Reliance was placed also on two other decisions in Satish Chandra Choudhary v. State of Tripura, and the Revenue Officer v. Prafulla Kumar Rai, . In the first case the facts were that Laskars were treated in the State of Assam as Scheduled Tribes. Subsequently the State Government decided to treat the said community as not belonging to Scheduled Tribes and the action was challenged before the Court. The Supreme Court directed the State Government to continue to treat the community as Scheduled Tribes as the matter was pending before Parliamentary Committee and the decision was awaited. We are unable to appreciate as to how this decision will advance the case of the respondents. In the second case, the issue arose under Orissa Land Reforms Act which inter alia provided that a person belonging to Scheduled Tribes cannot make a valid transfer of lands in favour of a person not belonging to the Scheduled Tribes, without prior permission
in writing of the Revenue Officer. The issue arose as transfer was made by a member belonging to sub-caste Rajaka and which was not recognised as Scheduled Tribes in the Presidential Order. It was claimed that Rajaka is a literal synonym for the word Dhoba and therefore Rajaka is not different from the caste Dhoba which was included in the Presidential Order. The Supreme Court relying upon Purna Chandra Oriya Bhasa-kosh, which is a recognised authority, accepted the claim. The judgment of the Supreme Court did not examine the question as to whether it is open to recognise sub-caste not mentioned in the Presidential Order by holding that the sub-caste is synonym to the caste included in the Presidential Order.