Jharkhand High Court, in a landmark decision, on Monday said persons belonging to the reserved category from Bihar and other states will not be able to secure a government job in Jharkhand.

A three-judge bench, while deciding several petitions filed by different persons, held that government jobs in the state in the reserved category can only be available for Jharkhand residents. Justice H.C. Mishra, Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice B.B. Mangalmurti had heard the petitions. The majority view of the bench — Justice Singh and Justice Mangalmurti — rejected the petitions filed by the petitioners.

Justice Mishra held the dissenting view. The state government had earlier appointed candidates in the reserved category who hailed from Bihar.

Later, the government terminated their appointments for which several candidates knocked the doors of the high court. A single bench of the high court had decided in favour of the petitioners.

Justice Mishra while hearing a few petitions had allowed the case of the candidates who were employed by the Jharkhand government. The government then filed an appeal before a division bench of the high court, after which the cases were referred to a full bench of three judges.

The petitioners — Chotelal Yadav, Ranjeet Kumar, Pankaj Kumar and others — had filed their cases before the high court. The full bench had heard the matter earlier and reserved its verdict.

Arguing on behalf of the candidates, their advocates contended that these candidates belonged to the reserved category of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes (OBC) of Bihar. The same castes are acceptable and recognised in Jharkhand.

Defending the government, additional advocate general Manoj Tandon said that the division of castes is not the sole criteria for appointment to government jobs in the state, and that only the addresses of candidates in Jharkhand can be acceptable as they are residents of the state.