Supreme Court cites "changing times" to allow SC certificate for girl based on mother's caste

In an exceptional decision with a view to facilitate the education of a minor girl, Supreme Court recently approved issuance of an Scheduled Caste certificate based on the 'Adi Dravida' caste of the girl's mother.

Notably, the mother was married to a non-Scheduled Caste person. The Supreme Court it is yet to decide a bunch of petitions challenging the norm that a child inherits their father's caste.

A bench comprising CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi refused to entertain a challenge to a Madras High Court order directing grant of Scheduled Caste certificate to the Puducherry girl on the sole ground that her academic career may suffer without it.

"With changing times, why should a caste certificate be not issued based on the mother's caste?", the CJI questioned.

In the instant case, the mother had requested the Tahsildar to grant Scheduled caste certificates to her three children - two daughters and a son - based on her caste certificate as her husband had stayed at her parents' house since their marriage. In her application, she had contended that her parents and grandparents belonged to Hindu Adi Dravida community.

In Rameshbhai Dabhai Naika vs Gujarat, a two-judge bench of Supreme Court had ruled, "The determination of caste of a person born of an inter-caste marriage or a marriage between a tribal and a non-tribal cannot be determined in complete disregard of attending facts of the case." Court had further said that in an inter-caste marriage or a marriage between a tribal and a non-tribal, there may be a presumption the child has the caste of the father. This presumption, it had said may be stronger in the case where in the inter-caste marriage or a marriage between tribal and non-tribal, the husband belongs to a forward caste.

"But by no means is the presumption conclusive or irrebuttable, and it is open to the child of such marriage to lead evidence to show he/she was brought up by the mother who belonged to SC/ST. By virtue of being the son of a forward caste father, he did not have any advantageous start in life but on the contrary suffered the deprivations, indignities, humiliations and handicaps like any other member of the community to which his/her mother belonged. Additionally, he was always treated as a member of the community to which her mother belonged not only by that community but by people outside the community as well," it had further said.