The Supreme Court has ruled that children born out of a marriage between a tribal woman and a non-tribal Forward Class man cannot claim the status of Scheduled Tribe and seek employment in the government under the reserved category.

A division bench comprising Justice H K Sema and Justice A R Lakshmanan said such children cannot claim Scheduled Tribe status as they were brought up in a Forward Class atmosphere 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 cheating the Constitution of India," the court observed.

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It said the impact of procuring bogus caste certificates and obtaining appointment/admission from the reserved quota will have far-reaching consequences as meritorious candidates falling in the reserved category 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 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 Oraon Tribe in Madhya Pradesh and was denied final posting as an Indian Information Service Grade-A officer despite having cleared the 1993 Civil Services Examination in the Scheduled Tribe category.

His plea was dismissed in December 1995 on the grounds that he was not from a Scheduled Tribe and the order was upheld by the Madhya Pradesh high court.

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Upholding the high court order, the bench quashed the Scheduled Tribe Certificate issued to Kumar by Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Gaya, in August 1992.

The court said, 'Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Certificate is not a bounty to be distributed. To sustain the claim, one must show that he/she suffered disabilities - socially, economically and educationally cumulatively.

'The authority before whom such claim is made is duty bound to satisfy itself that the applicant suffered disabilities socially, economically and educationally before such a certificate is issued. Any concerned authority issuing such certificates in a routine manner will be committing dereliction of Constitutional duty.'

On behalf of the appellant, senior counsel M N Krishnamani had claimed that the marriage between the Forward Class father and tribal mother had been accepted by the Oraon Tribe and therefore, Kumar was entitled to a ST Certificate.

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But the Court insisted such acceptance must be by the village community through a resolution entered in the village Register kept for the purpose.

Krishnamani had also drawn the court's attention to a circular issued by the Union Ministry of Home on March 4, 1975, according to which when a Tribal woman marries a non-tribal man, the children from such marriage may be treated as members of the Scheduled Tribe Community.

However, the court said, "Such circulars, being not law within the meaning of Article 13 of the Constitution, it would be of no assistance to the appellant on the face of the Constitutional provisions".