Supreme Court to Hear Plea on OBC Certificates for Children of Single Mothers

The Supreme Court will hear a petition on July 22 that challenges existing guidelines for issuing Other Backward Class (OBC) certificates, specifically for children of single mothers.

The petitioner, a woman holding OBC status, has approached the Court seeking a direction that her child be granted an OBC certificate based on her caste identity, without requiring proof from the father's side.

The case was last heard on June 23 by a division bench comprising Justices KV Viswanathan and N Kotiswar Singh. The Court noted the absence of clear guidelines for cases involving single mothers and stated that the matter would require detailed examination.

The Delhi Revenue Department guidelines require an OBC certificate or related documents from the father or his paternal relatives to process an application. The petitioner has argued that this rule violates her child's rights under Article 14 (equality before the law) and Article 21 (right to personal liberty) of the Constitution.

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, represented by Additional Solicitor General SD Sanjay, referred to a 2012 Supreme Court judgment in Rameshbhai Dabhai Naika vs. State of Gujarat. In that ruling, the Court held that caste status in inter-caste marriages is not conclusively determined by paternal lineage. While the child is generally presumed to carry the father's caste, the Court clarified that this presumption can be rebutted if the mother raised the child and integrated into her community.

In the current case, the petitioner has submitted that she is the sole caregiver and has raised her child within the OBC community. She has asked the Court to consider the actual circumstances of her upbringing over formal lineage.

High Courts have taken different views on similar matters in recent years.

In Rumy Chowdhury v. Department of Revenue, Government of NCT Delhi (2019), the Delhi High Court upheld the denial of caste certificates to the children of a single mother from the Scheduled Caste category. The petitioner, an Indian Air Force officer, had raised her two sons after separating from her forward-caste husband. The Court held that the children could not be granted SC certificates without proof of social or educational disadvantage. In a 2020 appeal, the division bench of the same Court upheld this view, citing concerns about misuse of caste-based reservations and their effect on individuals from genuinely disadvantaged backgrounds.

In contrast, the Gauhati High Court took a different position in Smti. Moonsoon Barkakoti v. State of Assam (2024). The Court upheld an OBC certificate issued to a junior officer who had inherited her caste from her mother, despite her father being from the general category. The officer had provided evidence showing she was brought up within her mother's community and faced related disadvantages. The Court emphasised that community integration and actual deprivation experience should guide such decisions, rather than automatic reliance on paternal identity.

The Supreme Court's decision in the current petition is expected to clarify whether children raised by single mothers can inherit their caste for official purposes without documents from the father. The ruling may also influence future policy decisions regarding caste certification in non-traditional family structures.