Bombay HC Orders Authorities To Give Mother's Caste To Adopted Son

A division bench of justices Sunil Shukre and GA Sanap in the Bombay High Court directed the deputy collector of the Dharavi division to issue a caste certificate to the adopted son of a single mother, assigning him the same caste as hers. A 44-year-old doctor filed the petition from Borivali West resident in Mumbai. While the order has been passed, the procedure would take its due time to complete. In her petition, the woman said that the Bombay Civil Court had approved her request for adoption in October 2009, and she had applied for a caste certificate for her son in 2016 to the Deputy Collector.

Plea For Caste Certificate Rejected In 2017

The petitioner belongs to the Hindu Mahayavanshi caste (a scheduled caste). On September 3, 2016, the district collector rejected her plea, saying that her documents could not be accepted for providing the caste certificate of the same caste to her son. The District Caste Scrutiny Committee for Mumbai city rejected her appeal against the deputy collector's order on November 30, 2017, citing the absence of specific legal provisions covering adopted children. The woman then moved to the high court, Hindustan Times reported.

'Violative Of Constitutional Provisions'

The advocate representing the petitioner said that since the woman had adopted the son, he was entitled to all the benefits, advantages, and concessions legitimately available to her, being a member of a scheduled caste community. Therefore, the child should not have been declined the same caste certificate as his mother's. Moreover, he alleged that the revenue authorities discriminated against her son while underway the adoption process. Hence, the orders were violative of the constitutional provisions for the scheduled castes community.

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