'Caste By Birth Remains Same Despite Conversion To Another Religion, Marriage': Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court has observed that a person’s caste, as determined by birth, remains unchanged even if he or she converts to another religion, and that marriage does not alter a woman’s caste status.

According to Live Law, the court made the observation while dismissing a criminal appeal filed by one Dinesh and eight others who had challenged an order of the Special Judge, SC/ST Act, Aligarh, summoning them to face trial under various provisions of the IPC and Section 3(1)(R) of the SC/ST Act.

The case arose from a criminal complaint filed by a woman who alleged that she was assaulted and abused by the accused persons and that casteist slurs were used against her during the altercation.

She further alleged that three people, including herself,

were injured in the incident.

Based on the statements of the complainant and her witnesses, along with injury reports, the trial court summoned the accused to face trial.

Challenging the summoning order before the High Court, the appellants contended that although the woman originally belonged to a Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) community by birth and was originally a resident of West Bengal, she had lost her caste status after marrying a man belonging to the Jat community.

On this basis, they argued that proceedings under the SC/ST Act were not sustainable.

They further claimed that the complaint had been filed as a counterblast after they had lodged a prior FIR against the woman and her family.

The state opposed the appeal, submitting that the incident described in the complaint and the one mentioned in the FIR occurred on the same date and were part of the same chain of events.

Therefore, the argument that the complaint was retaliatory was untenable.

The High Court noted that the trial court had issued a summons after considering the material on record, including witness statements and medical reports.

It also observed that the existence of a cross-case does not, by itself, justify discarding a complaint filed by the opposite party on a rival version of events.

On the crucial issue of caste status after marriage, the bench categorically rejected the appellants’ contention.

In its order, the court observed, “Though a person may change religion, his or her caste remains the same despite conversion to another religion. Hence, marriage does not change a person’s caste. Therefore, the said contention is unsustainable.”

Consequently, finding no merit in the arguments advanced by the appellants, the High Court dismissed the appeal.