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SC lays down norms for determining SC/ST status
Growing modernisation and migration of people across the country has forced the Supreme Court to change the rules for determination of caste status of Scheduled Castes and Tribes.
In a judgement delivered on Tuesday, the Supreme Court held that if a person fails to show affinity to the traditions, customs and practices of his ancestral community, caste or tribe, his caste/tribe claim cannot be discounted if there is documentary evidence to prove the same.
It said, “The affinity test may not be regarded as a litmus test for establishing the link of the applicant with a Scheduled Tribe. Nevertheless, the claim by an applicant that he is part of a Scheduled Tribe and is entitled to the benefit extended to that tribe, cannot per se be disregarded on the ground that his present traits do not match his tribes’ particular anthropological and ethnological traits, deity, rituals, customs, mode of marriage, death ceremonies, method of burial of dead bodies, etc.”
The bench of Justices DK Jain and AK Ganguly passed this order while deciding the appeal filed by one Anand, a resident of Maharashtra, who claimed to be from Halbi Scheduled Tribe. The Committee for Scrutiny and Verification of Tribal Claims, Amravati, however, rejected his claim, a decision that was subsequently upheld by the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court on May 5, 2004. Following this, Anand approached the court.
Reversing the HC order, the SC bench said, “A few decades ago, when the tribes were somewhat immune to the cultural development happening around them, the affinity test could serve as a determinative factor. However, with the migrations, modernisation and contact with other communities, these communities tend to develop and adopt new traits which may not essentially match with the traditional characteristics of the tribe.”
The court relied on the fact that Anand possessed documentary proof to substantiate his claim. Holding this to his advantage, the bench laid down broad parameters to decide on validity of caste or tribe claims.
