Offspring of an inter caste married couple is entitled to the benefit of reservation available to such candidates in the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe quota.

K.S. Radhakrishnan, J.

1. Petitioner is the daughter of an intercaste married couple. Her father belongs to Nair Community and mother" belongs to Perumannan Community which is a Scheduled Caste. She applied for admission to the professional degree courses (engineering, medical and agricultural), to the Commissioner for Entrance Examinations, 1999 claiming the benefit available to children of inter caste married couple. The Commissioner for Entrance Examinations rejected the claim and hence, she has approached this Court.

2. The Commissioner for Entrance Examinations published a prospectus for admission to the professional degree courses for the year, 1999. Petitioner submitted her application. In the application form in Column 11 she stated that she belongs to Perumannan Community, and also duly filed the community certificate by the Tahsildar, Thrissur. Clause.5. 3. 4. of the prospectus deals with the claim for reservation under Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe quota. Candidates claiming reservation in the Scheduled Caste quota should obtain and produce along with the application a caste/community certificate in the prescribed form, attached to the application form. The claim for reservation under the Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe quota would be subject to verification and clearance by the Screening Committee constituted for that purpose by the Government by G. O. (Ms.) No. 23/89/SC/ST/DD, dated 22nd May 1989 and as authorised by S.6 of the Kerala (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Regulation of Issue of Community Certificates Act, 1997 (Act 11 of 1996).

3. The Screening Committee constituted by the Government verified the applications of candidates who claimed [reservation under Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe quota for admission to the Engineering, Medical and Agricultural Courses for the year, 1999. On verification of the application of the petitioner, the Committee found her claim doubtful and referred the matter to the Vigilance Officer, KIRTADS for detailed anthropological enquiry.

4. The Vigilance Officer of KIRTADS conducted the enquiry after serving notice on the petitioner. Petitioner's father participated in the personal hearing and submitted a detailed statement. The Vigilance Officer noticed that the petitioner's father belongs to Nair Community and the petitioner's mother belongs to Perumannan Community, which is a Scheduled Caste. Investigation revealed that the parents have brought up the petitioner as non-scheduled caste. Reference was also made by the Vigilance Officer, to various documents and concluded that those documents never described the petitioner' as member of the Scheduled Caste. Further, it was noticed that the petitioner has not enjoyed the benefit of concessions earmarked to candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste throughout her educational career. The Vigilance Officer, in his report dated 12th July 1999 recommended that the application of the petitioner for admission to professional degree courses for 1999 against the quota reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates may be rejected. The report further states as follows:

"In order to check this kind of manipulation i.e. the trend of candidates born to inter caste married couples securing Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe community certificates in the application for professional courses under one pretext or other and remaining as non-scheduled castes for other put poses the prospectus of 1999, para 5.3.4. (e) has cautioned. Their S.C./S.T. claim will be subject to verification and clearance by the Screening Committed Considering all aspects of the case of the candidate, it can be seen that there is no merit in her claim for Scheduled Caste Status."

5. The Screening Committee considered the report submitted by the Vigilance Officer, KIRTADS. The Committee sent a copy of the report to the petitioner and invited her for a personal hearing, which was held on 30th July 1999. Petitioner was present with her father and uncle and submitted a writte