Can the Court protect retiral benefits under Article 142 after a caste certificate is invalidated?

Yes. Invalidation of a caste or tribe claim upon verification would generally have consequences in law, but this Court has consistently recognized that in exceptional circumstances, where the equities of the case so warrant, the power under Article 142 of the Constitution of India may be exercised to do complete justice. Here the appellant had entered service in 1994, continued until superannuation on 30.06.2025 — more than three decades — and had filed an affidavit that he had no children and that no member of his family had availed any benefit on the basis of the certificate.

Constitution of India — Art.142 — Scheduled Tribe certificate — Caste Scrutiny Committee — Invalidation of tribe claim — Protection of retiral and pensionary benefits — Constitution of India — Art.142 — Invalidated tribe claim — Complete justice in exceptional circumstances — Held: Invalidation of a caste or tribe claim upon verification ordinarily has consequences in law, but in exceptional circumstances where the equities of the case so warrant the power under Article 142 may be exercised to do complete justice. (¶13) Constitution of India — Art.142 — Long service ending in superannuation — Retiral benefits protected — Held further: Where the individual concerned served for more than three decades and retired on superannuation during the pendency of the appeal, the service rendered is protected for the limited purpose of computation and release of retiral and pensionary benefits. (¶14) Constitution of India — Art.142 — Scope of the protection — No validation of the tribe claim — Held further: Such protection does not amount to validation or recognition of the tribe claim, and neither the individual nor any member of the family may claim any future benefit on the basis of the invalidated caste certificate. (¶15) Scheduled Tribe certificate — Pre-constitutional family records — High probative value — Disposal — On facts, held: Pre-constitutional records of the grandfather and father recording the caste as ‘Koli’ possess high probative value, and the claim to the ‘Tokre Koli’ Scheduled Tribe stands rejected. Appeal allowed only as to retiral benefits; the invalidation is not interfered with. (¶7, 16)

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