Caste Status Not Transferable Across States: Orissa HC

The Orissa High Court has ordered the registration of a land sale deed, clarifying that Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST) status in one state does not automatically apply in another.

Justice Sashikanta Mishra passed the order while hearing a petition by Binoy Krishna Das, a Jharkhand resident who challenged the Mayurbhanj district administration’s demand for prior permission to sell his land.

Das, who belongs to the Bhuiya caste classified as an SC in Jharkhand, owns 0.14 acres in Gangraj village under Kuliana tehsil. He had agreed to sell the property to Manas Ranjan Sethy for ₹10 lakh to meet medical expenses and repay a loan. However, officials refused to register the sale deed, citing Odisha Regulation 2 of 1956, as Bhuiya is listed as an ST in Odisha.

The court ruled that caste classifications depend on state-specific Presidential notifications and that a person migrating from another state cannot automatically claim the same SC or ST status in the destination state. It also clarified that Das could not be treated as an ST member in Odisha solely because his caste is listed in that category there.

Quashing the ADM’s letter dated April 23, the court directed the Kuliana sub-registrar-cum-tehsildar to register the sale deed within three days of receiving the certified copy of the order, subject to fulfilment of other legal requirements.