The Supreme Court has ruled that minor children of a Dalit man and a non-Dalit woman, who have been living with their mother for the last six years, were entitled to get Scheduled Caste certificates.
The Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan on Thursday observed that though a non-Dalit woman could not acquire the membership of a Scheduled Caste community through marriage, her children born to a man belonging to the category would be entitled to the SC tag.
While granting divorce to one Juhi Poria Jawalkar and Pradip Poria using its omnibus power under Article 142 of the Constitution, the Apex Court recalled its verdict in a 2018 case.
The top court of the country had ruled that caste was determined by birth and could not be changed by marriage with a person from Scheduled Caste (community). Merely because a woman’s husband belonged to a Scheduled Caste community, she could not be issued a Scheduled Caste certificate, it added.
The Bench noted on December 5 that the children of the couple – an 11-year-old son and a six-year-old daughter – have been residing with the non-Dalit woman at her parent’s home in Raipur for the last six years, after their estrangement.
The children would continue to be groomed in a non-Dalit household and yet would be considered Scheduled Castes for the purpose of admission to government educational institutions and employment, ruled the Bench.
The top court of the country directed the father to move the authorities concerned and get SC certificates for his children within six months. He was further ordered to bear all expenses of the children’s education till post-graduation, including admission and tuition fees as well as boarding and lodging expenses. The man would buy his estranged wife a two-wheeler for personal use by August 31 next year, it added.
This was in addition to Rs 42 lakh paid by the man to the woman as a one-time settlement towards lifelong maintenance of the woman and the children. The man would also give a plot of land owned by him in Raipur to the woman.
The Bench further quashed the cross-FIRs and cases lodged by the parties against each other and directed the woman to facilitate periodic meetings of the children with their father, allowing them to be taken on vacation by him, and build a good relationship between them.
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