Quota benefits based on how kid is brought up: SC

What would be the caste status of a child born out of an inter-caste marriage between a forward caste man and a scheduled caste/tribe woman to avail of quota benefits in education and government jobs? Satya Prakash reports.

What would be the caste status of a child born out of an inter-caste marriage between a forward caste man and a scheduled caste/tribe woman to avail of quota benefits in education and government jobs?

Maintaining that it would depend upon the facts and circumstances of a particular case, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that children born out of inter-caste wedlock cannot be denied the benefits of reservation merely on the ground that one of the parents belonged to an upper caste.

A bench headed by justice Aftab Alam reversed the Gujarat high court's verdict denying quota benefits ST category to Rameshbhai Dabhai Naika whose father was a Kshatriya (a forward caste) and mother an ST.

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The HC had upheld the Gujarat's governement’s decision cancelling the tribal certificate earlier obtained by Naika on the sole ground that his father was a non-tribal, belonging to the Hindu caste Kshatriya. As a result, Naika lost his tribal status and a fair price shop allotted to him on that basis.

The SC said: "In an inter-caste marriage or a marriage between a tribal and a non-tribal the determination of the caste of offspring is essentially a question of fact to be decided on the basis of the facts adduced in each case.

"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," the SC said.

The SC said 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 ... 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 SC/ST," it said.