Family Property No Reason To Deny EWS Certificate To Married Woman Living Separately: Kerala High Court Opines Prima Facie

The Kerala High Court has prima facie held that the extent of family house plot of a married woman living separately cannot be a reason for denying her EWS Certificate.

It thus directed the Village Officer to issue a provisional Economically Weaker Section (EWS) Certificate to the Petitioner, subject to the final outcome of the Writ Petition. 

Justice V G Arun while admitting the Writ Petition, observed that:

I find prima facie merit in the contention urged by the learned Counsel for the petitioner that, being a married woman living separately, the extent of her family's house plot cannot be a reason for denying the EWS certificate to the petitioner.

The Writ Petition was filed seeking direction to the Tahasildar to issue an EWS Certificate to the petitioner provisionally in order to enable her to submit the certificate during the One Time Verification of certificates to the post of Agricultural Officer on 27th November. The Petitioner is represented by Advocates Nirmal V Nair, M. Aneesh, Muhammed Naseef Bin Salim and Arathi Prabhakaran. 

Government Pleader opposing the issuance of EWS Certificate contended that a Government Order issued on 12.02.2020 specifically states that if the family of an applicant owns a 'house plot' of more than 20 cents within the Municipal Corporation area, the applicant will not be entitled for EWS certificate. In the instant case, the petitioner's family own house plot having an extent of 23.70 ares.

However, the Court found prima facie merit in the contention raised by the Counsel appearing for the petitioner that being a married woman living separately, the extent of her family's house plot cannot be a reason for denying the EWS certificate to the petitioner and passed the interim order directing the issuance of provisional EWS Certificate to the petitioner, subject to the final outcome of the Writ Petition.

Case Title: Sandra Stephen v. State of Kerala & Ors.

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw(Ker) 554

Click Here To Read/Download The Order