BENGALURU: Caste of a person is determined by birth and in rare circumstances, a woman gets the caste status of her spouse provided she proves her admission to his community by social acceptance, the high court observed in a recent judgment.
“There is no dispute that the petitioner does not belong to a Scheduled Tribe (ST) by birth, although she claims to have acquired the said social status by marriage to a member of Scheduled Tribe. Ordinarily, caste is determined by birth and a person gets the caste of his/her father. That is why the Mahabharata states: ‘Daivaa yatnam kule janma, purushaa yatnam pourusham’,” Justice Krishna S Dixit said in his order. He dismissed the petition filed by MG Archana, a member of Balekoppa Gram Panchayat representing a constituency reserved for ST.
