In Brief
Employees of Food Corporation of India and Reserve Bank of India had been granted benefits based on their Scheduled Tribe status under a final 2012 judgment. After they declined caste scrutiny, a later High Court order (2018) directed discontinuation of their payments and recovery of dues already made. The Supreme Court held that a final judgment cannot be circumvented in subsequent collateral proceedings. The employees remain entitled to the specific relief granted in the 2012 judgment—protection of appointments and benefits granted before 28.11.2000. Any benefits granted thereafter on the basis of Scheduled Tribe status may be withdrawn, but employees must be reclassified in the general category as on 28.11.2000. The appeals were partly allowed and orders modified accordingly.
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