Caste status is acquired by birth, not by marriage, and a person cannot acquire the status of a Scheduled Tribe merely by marriage to a person belonging to a Scheduled Tribe community.

JUDGMENT :

1. Heard learned counsel for the parties.

2. By means of this writ petition, petitioner has sought the following relief:-

(i) Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of certiorari quashing the termination order dated 19.04.2022 (Annexure – 10) passed by respondent no. 2.

(ii) Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of certiorari quashing the recommendation of Scrutiny Committee dated 29.06.2017 as well as the approval dated 4.7.2017 (Annexure-5) given by respondent no. 3.

(iii) Issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of mandamus directing/commanding the respondents to reinstate the petitioner with all consequential benefits.

3. It is not in dispute that petitioner was married to a person belonging to Scheduled Tribe Community in the year 1989 and, after her marriage, she applied for caste certificate. On 08.02.1990, Tehsildar Bageshwar issued a certificate, declaring that petitioner belongs to Scheduled Tribe Community. On the strength of the caste certificate, petitioner was appointed on 27.07.1996 as Instructor against a post reserved for Scheduled Tribes.

4. In the year 2011, a complaint was made that petitioner does not belong to Scheduled Tribe and caste certificate has wrongly been obtained by her. Based on the complaint, a preliminary enquiry was held by Sub- Divisional Magistrate, Kanda, and thereafter the matter was referred to Caste Scrutiny Committee. Petitioner was given a show cause notice, but instead of submitting reply, petitioner sought copy of certain correspondence made between different Authorities during 2016-17. The Scrutiny Committee recommended for cancelling petitioner’s caste certificate and, based on the report of the committee, caste certificate issued to her was cancelled.

5. Since petitioner was holding a post reserved for Scheduled Tribe, therefore, Director, Training & Employment, Uttarakhand terminated her services by an order dated 19.04.2022. In this writ petition, petitioner has challenged the termination order passed by Director, the recommendation made by the Caste Scrutiny Committee and the decision taken by the Competent Authority to cancel her caste certificate.

6. Learned counsel for the petitioner contended that termination of petitioner’s service amounts to removal from service, which is a major punishment under Uttarakhand Government Servant (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 2003, therefore, Article 311(2) of the Constitution of India is attracted, therefore the order of termination passed without holding disciplinary enquiry, is illegal and unsustainable. He further contended that documents sought by the petitioner were not supplied to her by the Caste Scrutiny Committee, thus reasonable opportunity of hearing was not given to her, as such the report of the Scrutiny Committee and also the decision, based on such report, deserves to be quashed.

7. Law is well settled that caste status is acquired by birth and not by marriage as held in Valsamma Paul (Mrs) Vs. Cochin University, (1996) 3 SCC 545. In the case of Sunita Singh Vs. State of Uttar Pradesh and Others, reported in (2018) 2 SCC 493, the aforesaid view was reiterated. Relevant extract of the said judgment is reproduced below:-

“5. There cannot be any dispute that the caste is determined by birth and the caste cannot be changed by marriage with a person of scheduled caste. Undoubtedly, the appellant was born in “Agarwal” family, which falls in general category and not in scheduled caste. Merely because her husband is belonging to a scheduled caste category, the appellant should not have been issued with a caste certificate showing her caste as scheduled caste. In that regard, the orders of the authorities as well as the judgment of the High Court cannot be faulted.”

8. Admittedly, both parents of the petitioner do not belong to Scheduled Tribe Community. In other words, petitioner was not a member of Scheduled Tribe by birth and she claimed benefit available to Scheduled Tribe based on her marriage with a pe