Nagaland: Children of non-Naga fathers, non-Naga children adopted by Naga parents cannot claim ST status

The Kohima district administration has announced that children of non-Naga fathers, as well as non-Naga children adopted by Naga parents, are not entitled to scheduled tribe/Backward tribe/Indigenous Inhabinat tribe certificate.

A notification states, "In pursuance to the Government of Nagaland vide P & AR OM No. RCBT-5/87 (Pt-1I1) Dated Kohima, 11 June 2012 whereby states that 'children of non-Naga fathers, as well as non-Naga children adopted by Naga parents etc, are not to be given scheduled tribe/Backward tribe/ Indigenous Inhabitant tribe certificates', all concerned Area Administrative Officers under Kohima district arc hereby directed to maintain strict compliance while verifying the authenticity of the applicants before forwarding to the issuing authority. Further, all concerned Area Administrative Officers are directed to issue similar instructions to all the Village Councils and GBs within their respective jurisdiction for strict adherence to the Government order."

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It is to be mentioned here that in 2006, the Supreme Court ruled that children born out of a marriage between a tribal woman and a non-tribal forward-class man cannot claim the status of the scheduled tribe and seek employment in the government under the reserved category.

A division bench of Justice H K Sema and Justice A R Lakshmanan said the offshoots of the wedlock of a tribal woman married to a non-tribal husband cannot claim scheduled tribe status as they were brought up in the atmosphere of forward class and they were not subjected to any disabilities.

"A person not belonging to the scheduled castes or scheduled tribes, claiming himself to be a member of such caste by procuring a bogus caste certificate, is a fraud on the Constitution of India," the court observed.

It said the impact of procuring bogus caste certificates and obtaining appointment/admission from the reserved quota will have far-reaching consequences as meritorious reserved category candidates may be deprived of posts meant for them.

Terming it as a violation of the mandate of Articles 14 (Right to Equality) and 21 (Right to Life and Personal Liberty) of the Constitution, the bench said such certificates should not be issued in a routine manner without proper verification of the applicant's claim.

The court dismissed an appeal filed by one Anjan Kumar of Gaya in Bihar who was born out of a marriage between a forward class (Kayastha) man and a woman from the Oraon tribe in Madhya Pradesh and denied final posting as an Indian Information Service Grade-A officer despite having cleared the 1993 Civil Services Examination by UPSC in the scheduled tribe category.