Justice Arindam Sinha noted that a mother’s caste can go on to the child and for the same, the fact that the child was brought up by his mother in her tribal community has to be considered. Accordingly, the collector and the authorities were asked to reconsider the application.
The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that his client belongs to a scheduled tribe and she married a person who possessed an SEBC certificate. The husband had deserted her and she had a child with him. The application for the child’s caste certificate was rejected by the Tahsildar and the Tahsildar’s decision was then confirmed in the appeal. These orders have been challenged by the current writ petition.
The petitioner relied on the Supreme Court’s judgment in Rameshbhai Dabhai Naika v. State of Gujrat and others, where it was held that there is a presumption that in an inter-caste marriage or a marriage between a tribal and a non-tribal that the child would have the caste of the father, but this presumption is not conclusive or irrebuttable if it is shown that the mother had brought up the child and by virtue of the father’s caste there was no advantageous start to the child.
The Court noted that the Tahsildar as well as the appellate authority rejected the application. The Tahsildar followed proper procedures, but the fact that the mother brought up her son in the tribal community was not even considered.
The impugned order was set aside and quashed and the authority was directed to reconsider the appeal and expeditiously dispose it of.
Case Title: Jayanti Nayak v. State of Odisha and others
Coram: Justice Arindam Sinha
Case No.: WP(C) No. 37095 of 2022
Advocates for the Petitioner: Mr. Santosh Kumar Dash, Advocate
Advocate for the Respondent: Mr. A.K. Nanda, Addl. Govt. Advocate
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