Last week the Supreme Court annulled the marriage between a non-Dalit woman and a Dalit man. The court ordered the man to get Scheduled Caste (SC) certificate within six months for their two minor children who were with their mother for the last six years. The court ruled that a non-Dalit woman cannot acquire SC status while the children can, since the husband is of that caste. This follows the judgments in 2018 when the Supreme Court had declared that caste is determined by birth and cannot be changed by marriage. This is injustice for the children in cases where the mother belongs to the SC and not the father. Under such a circumstance the children would lose reservations and benefits meant for SC. Furthermore, as it is the mother who bears the children and is much more involved in rearing them, the children should be bestowed her caste. Alternatively, once the kids turn 18 years, they could give an affidavit and opt for the caste of one their parents’ and the decision should be irreversible in the future.
