High Court: STs who follow Hindu customs cannot be excluded from Hindu marriage laws

Raipur: The Chhattisgarh High Court has ruled that members of the Scheduled Tribe (ST) community who follow Hindu customs and traditions cannot be excluded from the provisions of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955.A division bench of Justice Sanjay K Agrawal and Justice Arvind Kumar Verma passed the ruling recently while quashing a family court order dismissing a joint divorce petition involving a tribal husband and wife belonging to a scheduled caste. The couple had filed a case in the family court in Jagdalpur, Bastar, seeking dissolution of their marriage under Section 13B of the Hindu Marriage Act. The couple married on April 15, 2009, and have been living apart since April 2014.The Jagdalpur Family Court had dismissed their petition on August 12 last year, citing Section 2(2) of the Act, which states that the Act does not apply to STs unless otherwise directed by the Center through a notification.The HC said both parties made it clear that their marriage was solemnized as per Hindu rituals, including the ‘saptapadi’ ceremony, and said they proved that they were following Hindu traditions and not tribal customs.“When tribal members voluntarily choose to follow Hindu customs, traditions and rituals, they cannot be excluded from the ambit of the provisions of the 1955 Act,” the high court observed. The HC said that Section 2(2) was a “protective measure” of tribal customary law and not an “exclusive measure” against “Hindus”. Relying on the Supreme Court ruling, the bench said that if there is evidence that tribals follow Hindu traditions, they should be governed by Hindu law in matters of inheritance and marriage.