Caste assigned by birth does not change on marrying a person : Himachal High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court ruled that caste is assigned by birth and does not change on marrying a person from a Scheduled Caste.

Consequently, the accused, a non-SC woman who married an SC man, remains a non-SC individual and can be charged under Section 3(1)(s) of the SC/ST Act for abusing someone using caste slurs.

The bench set aside the trial court’s discharge order, which had incorrectly applied marital caste identity, and remanded the case for fresh framing of charges.

[State of Himachal Pradesh v Sarojioni]