New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to hear a plea against a notification, which made permanent resident certificates mandatory for applying for jobs in Tripura government departments. After a bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih showed its disinclination in examining the plea and asked the petitioner to move high court with his grievance, the counsel withdrew the petition.
"Whether the High Court of Tripura is on leave?" it asked the petitioner's counsel. The lawyer argued the notification mandated that a permanent resident of Tripura certificate was required to apply for jobs in the state government departments and semi-government bodies. He referred to a recent verdict of the apex court which held that domicile-based reservation in post graduate medical courses by a state was unconstitutional.
"Why can't you raise all these issues before the high court?" asked the bench, "why can't you go to the high court?" When the petitioner's counsel said the matter involved larger question of law, the bench asked, "Whether the high courts are not empowered to decide on them?" The petitioner's counsel then withdrew the plea with liberty to approach the jurisdictional high court.
The counsel referred to a separate petition, listed before the bench, and challenged a February 2024 order of the Tripura High Court in a matter related to the notification. He said the high court had noted the submissions of the state's advocate general that the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council was an independent entity/autonomous body and there was no document under which they had adopted the government notification.
"When a statement is made before a court by a constitutional functionary, the authorities are bound to abide by the same," said the bench and disposed of the plea.
