Supreme Court Nod for Mother-Based SC Certificate in Minor’s Case

In a rare and significant decision aimed at safeguarding the education of a minor girl, the Supreme Court on Monday allowed the issuance of a Scheduled Caste (SC) certificate based on the mother’s caste, even though the child’s father does not belong to an SC community.

The court, however, clarified that it has kept the larger question of law open and has not yet settled the broader issue of whether a child can inherit caste from the mother instead of the father.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi refused to interfere with a Madras High Court order directing the grant of an SC certificate to a minor girl from Puducherry, noting that denial of the certificate could adversely affect her academic career.

“We are keeping the question of law open,” the bench observed. However, the CJI’s remarks during the hearing have sparked wider legal and social debate. “With changing times, why should a caste certificate not be issued based on the mother’s caste?” the Chief Justice asked, a statement that could have far-reaching implications if adopted as a settled principle.

The case arose after the girl’s mother, who belongs to the Hindu Adi Dravida community, applied to the tahsildar seeking SC certificates for her three children, two daughters and a son, on the basis of her caste.

She stated that her husband, a non-SC individual, had been residing at her parental home since their marriage and that the children were raised in her community environment. She also highlighted that her parents and grandparents were members of the Adi Dravida community.

Currently, Presidential Notifications dated March 5, 1964, and February 17, 2002, read with guidelines of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, state that eligibility for a caste certificate is primarily determined by the father’s caste and the individual’s residential status within a state or Union Territory.

The Supreme Court has historically upheld this principle. In Punit Rai vs Dinesh Chaudhary (2003), the court ruled that under customary Hindu law, caste is inherited from the father in the absence of a statutory provision to the contrary.

However, in a more nuanced judgment in Rameshbhai Dabhai Naika vs State of Gujarat (2012), the apex court acknowledged that caste determination in cases of inter-caste marriages cannot ignore surrounding facts.

While presuming that a child generally inherits the father’s caste, especially if the father belongs to a forward caste, the court held that such presumption is not conclusive.

It allowed children to prove that they were brought up by an SC/ST mother, suffered social discrimination, and were treated as members of the mother’s community.

By allowing the certificate in the present case purely on humanitarian grounds, the Supreme Court has ensured that the child’s education is not disrupted, while leaving open a crucial constitutional and social question that could redefine caste determination norms in India.

Also Read: Census 2027 to Include Caste Enumeration, Clarifies Centre