Shillong, June 28: The Meghalaya High Court on Friday admitted a PIL challenging the issuance of Scheduled Tribe certificates by the Social Welfare department.
Syngkhong Rympei Thymmai (SRT), a Shillong-based organisation expressed concern over issuance of ST certificates to Khasis, who adopt surnames of their either parents, father or mother, and to non-Khasi women who adopt surname of their Khasi husbands.
The High Court in its order directed District Council Affairs (DCA) department to file a report on the matter.
Hearing the matter, the division bench of chief justice IP Mukerji and justice W Diengdoh noted that the Khasi Hills Autonomous District (Khasi Social Custom of Lineage) Act, 1997, applies to all Khasis in Khasi Hills district, and provides for registration and grant of Khasi Tribe certificates.
However, the court expressed its desire to understand how the option of a person to adopt the surname of one’s mother or father could change the obligation of the authority under the Act to register as Khasi and grant him or her “Tribe Certificate.”
The SRT also said it had in 2020 notified the deputy commissioner of East Khasi Hills by endorsing the advice received from District Council Affairs department that Lineage Act, 1997 did not prohibit issuance of ST certificates to those applicants who were adopting “surnames of either from the father or mother and the practice of adopting husband surnames by non-khasi wife.”
However, the department withdrew the letter and decisions therein in 2024, according to SRT.
As a result of this communication, issuance of ST certificates to Khasis has been stopped by the government, it said.
