Inter-Caste Marriage or Conversion Doesn’t Bar SC/ST Act: Allahabad HC

The Allahabad High Court has ruled that a person’s caste by birth does not change , even if they marry someone from another community or convert to a different religion, while dismissing a challenge to criminal proceedings under the SC/ST Act .

The ruling came in a case involving a woman from West Bengal , who belongs to a Scheduled Caste/Tribe (SC/ST) community by birth . She had filed a criminal complaint alleging that nine people assaulted her and used caste-based slurs , causing injuries to her and two others.

The accused challenged the trial court’s decision to summon them under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act , arguing that the woman had lost her SC/ST status after marrying a man from the Jat community . On this basis, they contended that the SC/ST Act could not be applied.

Rejecting this argument, Justice Anil Kumar observed that “though a person may change religion, his or her caste remains the same despite conversion. Marriage also does not change a person’s caste.” The court held that the contention raised by the accused was unsustainable .

Legal analysts , however, point out that the ruling relates specifically to cases of caste-based abuse and protection from discrimination , and does not affect reservation policy . They note that if a person is abused or targeted because of the caste they were born into , the protections under the SC/ST Act would continue to apply, irrespective of marriage or religious conversion.

At the same time, analysts underline that existing laws on reservation in education and employment remain unchanged , under which SC/ST quota benefits are not available after religious conversion.

The order, passed on February 10 , allows the criminal trial against the accused to proceed.