PRADEEP NANDRAJOG, J.

1. Shorn of unnecessary details, the facts leading to filing of the present petition are that on 03.03.1988 the respondent applied to the petitioner for being appointed as Primary Teacher against the Schedule Tribe quota. After sometime the respondent submitted caste certificate dated 22.06.1988 issued by Deputy Commissioner, Singhbhum, Chaibasa inter-alia recording that the respondent is the wife of one Shri Nawal Kishore Sisingi and belongs to Munda Tribe which is a recognized Scheduled Tribe. It may be highlighted that the certificate refers to it being certified that the petitioner belongs to the Scheduled Tribe Munda being the wife of a man who belongs to the Tribe Munda.

2. On 16.08.1988 the respondent got appointed as Primary Teacher under the petitioner against a post in the Scheduled Tribe quota.

3. After more than 15 years of the appointment of the respondent, Assistant Commissioner, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan issued memorandum dated 27.05.2003 to the respondent. The same reads as under:- “Whereas Smt. Shanti Acharya Sisingi has been appointed as Primary Teacher in Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan with initial posting at Kendriya Vidyalaya Tatanagar and Smt. Shanti Acharya Sisingi has joined her duties on 05.10.1988. Whereas Smt. Shanti Acharya Sisingi, PRT is appointed to the post under Scheduled Tribe quota based on the Caste Certificate issued by Deputy Commissioner, Singhbhum, Chaibasa. Whereas the certificate submitted by Smt. Shanti Acharya Sisingi shows & is issued as Wife of Sri Naval Kishore Sisingi as per Certificate dated 22.06.1988. Whereas in accordance with the instructions issued by the Department of Personnel and Training and in accordance with the provisions of the Reservations and Concessions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, a person not belonging to SC/ST by birth will not be deemed to be a member of SC/ST by virtue of marriage with a person belonging to SC/ST. Similarly, a person belonging to SC/ST by birth will continue to belong to that category even after marriage with a person not belonging to SC/ST. Now, therefore in view of above clarification given by Govt. of India, Smt. Shanti Acharya Sisingi is hereby directed to submit the Caste Certificate in the name of her father instead of husband within 02 months from date of receipt of this memorandum.”

4. In response to the aforesaid memorandum dated 27.05.2003, the respondent submitted a reply to the petitioner inter-alia stating that on 16.02.1981 she got married to her husband Nawal Kishore Sisingi who is a member of Munda tribe and that the said marriage was approved by Munda tribe. She was accepted by the community. That in view of dictum of law laid down by the Supreme Court in the decision reported as N.E. Horo v Jahan Ara Jaipal Singh AIR 1972 SC 1840 and the fact that the respondent was married to a male person belonging to Munda tribe and that the said marriage received the approval of Munda tribe the respondent became a member of Munda tribe after her marriage. The relevant portion of the reply submitted by the respondent reads as under:- “2. I was validly married with Mr.Nawal Kishore Sisingi, on the 16th day of February 1981 according to Munda customs and adopted the culture of the Munda Community and my marriage with Mr.Nawal Kishore Sisingi was duly approved and I was recognized as a member of Munda Community by marriage. In the said matter as to whether I have become a member of the Munda Community by my marriage with a Munda male, duly approved by the Munda Community, I have been advised to refer to the authority reported in A.I.R. 1972 Supreme Court at page 1840. The Hon?ble Supreme Court, in the above mentioned authority, at para 22, Page 1849, has held that once the marriage of a Munda male with a non-Munda female is approved or sanctioned by the Munda Panchayat (Prabha Panchayat), the female after the marriage will become a member of the Munda Community….. 3. Since after my marriage, I bonafidely

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