SC asks Centre, Delhi govt to spell out stand on amending OBC certificate rules
The Supreme Court has asked the Centre and the Delhi Government to respond to a petition seeking directions to amend rules for issuing OBC certificates to children of single mothers.
A Bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice AG Masih issued the order on a Delhi woman’s petition which highlighted gender bias in the existing guidelines for issuance of an OBC certificate.
The petitioner said an OBC certificate couldn’t be granted on the basis of an OBC certificate of a single mother and an applicant had to produce such a certificate from the paternal side only. Such an action by the respondent authorities went against constitutional provisions, she contended.
”The inaction on the part of respondents to issue OBC certificates to children of a single mother on the basis of the Other Backward Class certificate of their single mother are also in contravention of the rights of the children who belong to the Other Backward Class,” she submitted.
The petition submitted that the guidelines violated constitutional provisions as children of a single mother belonging to the SC or ST category were granted caste certificates on the basis of her certificate.
The insistence on the father’s OBC certificate or the paternal side by the authorities for issuing OBC certificates to children of single mothers was totally against the rights of children brought up by her, she said referring to the Delhi government’s guidelines for issuance of OBC certificate, it said.
As per the guidelines, any person residing in Delhi and wanting to apply for an OBC certificate, had to produce an OBC certificate of any paternal blood relative which included father, grandfather or uncle, the petition submitted.
A single mother belonging to the OBC category who wants to apply for such a certificate for her adopted child on the basis of her own certificate was not allowed to apply as she was not able to produce the OBC certificate of her husband who was not there, it said.
