Pre-Independence Documents Hold More Weight Than 'Affinity Test' for Scheduled Tribe Status: SC

A bench of Chief Justice of India B R Gavai and Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and K Vinod Chandran ruled that greater probative value must be assigned to a pre-Independence document if available. The court observed that with the change in times, migration, modernisation and the integration of tribal populations into the mainstream, the inability of claimants to recall anthropological or ethnological traits, deity, rituals, customs, mode of marriage, death ceremonies or burial methods cannot be the sole ground to reject a claim.

The court allowed the appeal of Yogesh Madhav Makalwad against the Bombay High Court judgment upholding the rejection of his caste claim by the Scrutiny Committee. It held that he belonged to the Koli Mahadev Tribe and directed the Committee to issue him a Caste Validity Certificate within six weeks.

The bench noted that the appellant’s grandfather, Jalba Malba Makalwad, was certified as belonging to the Koli Mahadev Tribe in a 1943 school admission record. This, being a pre-Independence document, should have been given greater probative value. The court criticised the rejection of this record based on presumptions and assumptions.

Relying on Anand v. Committee for Scrutiny & Verification of Tribe Claims and Others (2012), the bench reiterated that pre-Independence documents hold a higher degree of probative value for determining caste status than post-Independence ones. It reaffirmed that the affinity test is not conclusive for establishing tribal identity and that failure to meet ethnological traits cannot by itself justify rejection.

The state had alleged interpolation in the grandfather’s school record. However, the bench found the handwriting expert’s report inconclusive and, after examining the entry with a magnifying glass, concluded that the words “Koli Mahadev” were in the same ink and handwriting, ruling out interpolation.

The court also referred to Maharashtra Adiwasi Thakur Jamat Swarakshan Samiti v. State of Maharashtra and Others (2023), which reiterated that the affinity test cannot be conclusive. It held that when such a test is conducted by the Vigilance Cell, its results must be considered along with all other probative material before deciding caste validity.

Setting aside the Scrutiny Committee’s order invalidating the appellant’s caste claim and the Bombay High Court’s July 23, 2024 order upholding it, the bench detailed the documentary trail supporting the claim. In 1943, the appellant’s grandfather was admitted to Zilla Parishad Primary School, Narangal, Nanded District, with caste recorded as Koli Mahadev. In 1975 and 1979, his uncle Vyankat Jalba Makalwad and father Madhav Jalba Makalwad were admitted to Zilla Parishad Primary School, Kabirwadi, Nanded District, with the same caste entry. In 2005, the appellant’s own school admission record at Janta Vidya Mandir Primary School, Murud, Latur District, also reflected Koli Mahadev.

The village had a Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe population exceeding 40% as per the 2001 Census. In 2019, after securing 334 out of 720 marks in the NEET UG examination, the appellant applied for caste certificate validation for admission to a medical college.

The Scrutiny Committee rejected his claim on June 24, 2019, also invalidating his father’s certificate, and the Bombay High Court later upheld this decision. The Supreme Court found these orders unsustainable in law, holding that the available evidence conclusively established his belonging to the Koli Mahadev Tribe.