Monday, February 14, 2011

INTER - CASTE MARRIAGE

     When persons belonging to different castes marry, what happens to their caste status?  What will be the caste status of their children?  Whether a woman belonging to a forward community and marrying a Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe/OBC citizen becomes entitled to claim reservation under the SC/ST/OBC quota?   
The issue "If   a   woman   who   by   birth   belongs   to   a   scheduled   caste   or   a  scheduled tribe marries to a  man belonging to a  forward  caste,      whether on marriage she ceases to belong to the scheduled caste  or the scheduled tribe?" came up for consideration before the Full Bench of the Bombay High Court in Rajendra Shrivastava   vs. State of Maharashtra, (2010) 112 Bom LR 762 and the Full Bench held as follows:- 

 "When a woman born in a scheduled caste or a scheduled tribe marries  to a person  belonging to  a forward  caste,  her  caste by birth does not change by virtue of the marriage. A person born as a member of a scheduled caste or a scheduled tribe has to suffer from  disadvantages,  disabilities  and  indignities  only  by  virtue  of        belonging   to   the   particular   caste   which   he   or   she   acquires  involuntarily on birth. The suffering of such a person by virtue of caste is not wiped out by a marriage with the person belonging to  a   forward   caste.   The   label   attached   to   a   person   born   into   a   scheduled caste or a scheduled tribe continues notwithstanding  the   marriage.   No   material   has   been   placed   before   us   by   the    applicant   so   as   to   point   out   that   the   caste   of   a  person   can   be  changed either by custom, usage, religious sanction or provision of law."
The Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in Rameshbhai Dabhai Naika   Vs State of Gujarat & Others   ( CIVIL APPEAL NO.    654     OF 2012-  Decided on January 18, 2012) was pleased to endorse the above view of the Full Bench Judgment of the Bombay High Court.  The Supreme Court was also pleased to observe that the view   expressed   earlier by the Supreme Court in  Valsamma  judgment that   in   an   inter-caste   marriage   or   a   marriage   between   a   tribal and   a   non-tribal   the   woman   must   in   all   cases   take   her   caste from   the   husband,   as   a   rule   of   Constitutional   Law   is   a proposition, the correctness of which is not free from doubt."
However, the question is: Whether a woman marrying a Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe/OBC citizen becomes entitled to claim reservation under the SC/ST/OBC quota?  The answer is: No. The Supreme Court of  India has held that a candidate who had the advantageous start in life being borne in a forward community and had march of advantageous life but is transplanted in backward class by adoption, marriage or conversion does not become eligible to the benefits of  reservation.
What will be the caste of the children? The question of the status of a child born to a scheduled tribe mother from a forward caste father came up for consideration before the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in Rameshbhai Dabhai Naika    Vs State of Gujarat & Others   ( CIVIL APPEAL NO.    654     OF 2012-  Decided on January 18, 2012) and the Supreme Court held as follows:-

"In an inter-caste marriage or a marriage between a tribal and a non-tribal there may be a presumption that the child has the caste of the father. This presumption may be stronger in the case where in the  inter-caste  marriage   or  a  marriage   between   a  tribal   and  a non-tribal the husband belongs to a forward caste.   But by no means   the   presumption   is   conclusive   or   irrebuttable   and   it   is open   to   the   child   of   such   marriage   to   lead   evidence   to   show that he/she was brought up by the mother who belonged to the scheduled caste/scheduled tribe. 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, humilities   and   handicaps   like   any   other   member   of   the community to which his/her mother belonged.  Additionally, that he was always treated a member of the community to which her mother   belonged   not   only   by   that   community   but   by   people outside the community as well.   In the case in hand the tribal certificate has been taken away from the appellant without adverting to any evidences and on  the  sole  ground   that   he  was  the  son  of  a  Kshatriya father. The   orders   passed   by   the   High   Court   and   the   Scrutiny Committee, therefore, cannot be sustained. The orders passed by the High Court and the Scrutiny Committee are, accordingly, set aside and the case is remitted to the Scrutiny Committee to take a fresh decision on the basis of  the evidences that might be   led   by   the   two   sides. "
The above mentioned decisions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India provide the answers to the questions mentioned at the  beginning of this post.
                           ------                                       


-P. Rajendran