Mumbai: A person can not take the benefit of reservation for scheduled castes or tribes by virtue of inter-caste marriage, Bombay High Court has held.

Giving benefit of caste-based reservations to person who does not belong to a backward caste by birth, but has only married into a backward caste, will frustrate the policy, a Division bench of Justices Ranjana Desai and Roshan Dalvi held.

Petitioner Hemalata Bacchav was appointed as junior assistant at Nasik Zilla Parishad in December 2003 against a post reserved for scheduled tribe.

Bacchav was a Maratha, but her husband was a Mahadev Koli,a scheduled tribe. She claimed to be a Mahadev Koli by marriage.

In December 2006, after scheduled tribes scrutiny committee found out that she was not a Koli by birth, her appointment was terminated. She challenged it in High Court.

She relied on two Government Resolutions, dating back to 1959 and 1966, which gave benefit of concessions to high-caste person married into backward castes, with a view to encourage inter-caste marriage.

But High Court held that these two GRs were no longer relevant, in view of apex court's later decisions. In the judgement pronounced last week, the division bench pointed out that in the Supreme Court's view, "acquisition of status of SC/ST by voluntary mobility would amount to playing a fraud upon the Constitution."

"It would be improper and inappropriate to grant the benefit of reservations by virtue of marriage," High Court held.
Source : PTI