The Kerala High Court has held that an inter-religious marriage can also be considered while extending benefits under a category intended for inter-caste marriages, as reported in The Observer Post.
Justice Harisankar V. Menon made the observation while hearing a petition filed by a woman seeking regularisation of her appointment as a farm employee under the inter-caste marriage category.
The petitioner had produced an inter-caste marriage certificate issued by the Tahsildar, Vaikom, in 2007. Her employer, the Principal Agricultural Officer, subsequently asked her to produce a recent certificate.
Tahsildar Initially Rejected Fresh Certificate
The petitioner thereafter approached the Tahsildar seeking a fresh certificate. Her application was initially rejected on the ground that she and her husband belonged to different religions and that their marriage could not be treated as an “inter caste marriage”.
The Tahsildar later issued a certificate recording that the petitioner was a Christian while her husband was a Hindu.
However, the employer did not accept the new certificate, following which the petitioner approached the High Court.
In 2022, the High Court had directed the employer to provisionally accept the certificate and permit the petitioner to take charge, subject to the final outcome of the case.
The petitioner subsequently joined the post, but her appointment had not been regularised.
Court Says Inter-Religious Marriage Must Be Considered
The respondents argued that the certificates produced by the petitioner only established that she was an “inter caste married person” and could not be relied upon for extending appointment benefits.
They also relied on Clause 246 of the Village Officer Manual, arguing that it provided for issuance of an inter-caste marriage certificate and did not cover marriages between persons belonging to different religions.
The High Court, however, took a different view after examining the category under which the petitioner had been appointed.
“In my opinion, as already noticed, since the petitioner’s appointment is under the category of ‘മിശ്ര വിവാഹിത’ (Inter Faith Marriage), the benefits thereunder require to be extended on the basis of Exts.P5 as well as P8,” the court observed.
The court noted that the certificates established that the petitioner belonged to the Christian religion while her husband belonged to the Hindu religion.
“In the opinion of this Court, an inter religion marriage also requires to be taken note of while considering the entitlement pursuant to the benefits considered and extended pursuant to Ext.P4 order,” Justice Menon said.
Court Directs Regularisation
The High Court subsequently disposed of the petition and directed the Senior Agricultural Officer to regularise the petitioner’s appointment.
The ruling comes against the backdrop of an earlier Kerala High Court decision concerning an inter-religious marriage and community benefits.
In 2024, the High Court had held that a child could not be denied an SC community certificate merely because the parents had entered into an inter-religious marriage, where the child had been accepted into the community and faced the associated social disadvantages.
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