Authorities must show leniency while asking members of SC/ST communities to prove their caste status: Kerala High Court
‘Denial of constitutionally guaranteed privileges to members of SC/ST communities must only be in exceptional cases of apparent fraud that is established through material independently available to the State’
The Kerala High Court has emphasized that authorities should show leniency when dealing with members of Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities, particularly during the scrutiny of caste status. The court's Division Bench, comprising Justices A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and A.K. Preetha, clarified that authorities should consider the broader context, including the extension of social security benefits to family members and extended relatives, when evaluating caste-related claims.
V. Balan, a retired postal assistant from Thrissur, brought his case before the Division Bench, challenging a Single Bench's ruling that he had insufficient evidence to support his assertion of belonging to the Malai Pandaram community under the ST quota. Balan had obtained a regular appointment as a postman in 1980 based on a caste certificate provided by a tahsildar, which claimed he belonged to the Malai Pandaram community.
However, a subsequent Vigilance inquiry conducted at the request of his employers, the postal service, concluded that he belonged to the Pandaram (Veera Saiva) community, classified as Other Backward Classes, not the Malai Pandaram community.
The Division Bench rejected the Single Bench's decision, stating that the scrutiny process needed to take into account the entire situation, including the family's eligibility for benefits reserved for ST members. While dismissing Balan's petition, the Single Bench had argued that the Vigilance report, prepared after an extensive anthropological study, provided a sufficient basis for the conclusion that he did not belong to the claimed community.
Balan contended that the committee disregarded his objections and that the documents used to determine his caste status were not made available to him.
The court ruled that the denial of privileges guaranteed by the Constitution to SC/ST communities should only be applied in exceptional cases of proven fraud, supported by independent evidence, and that the authorities must demonstrate the alleged fraud committed by the individuals who issued the caste certificate upon which Balan claimed his service benefits.
Written by urgent.news from The Hindu's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
