Anand vs Committee For S.&V. Of Tribe Claims &Ors on 8 November, 2011
16. We would like to place reliance in case of Anand Vs. Committee
for Scrutiny and Verification of Tribe claim and ors. reported in
(2012)1 SCC 113, wherein it is observed by the Hon'ble Supreme
Court that the affinity test is not a litmus test. While dealing with
documentary evidence, greater reliance may be placed on pre-
independence documents because they furnish a higher degree of
probative value to the declaration of status of a caste, as compared to
post-independence documents. While applying the affinity test, which
focuses on the ethnological connections with the Scheduled Tribe, a
cautious approach has to be adopted. the affinity test may not be
regarded as a litmus test for establishing the link of the petitioner with
a Scheduled Tribe. Nevertheless, the claim by the petitioner that he is
a part of a Scheduled Tribe and is entitled to the benefit extended to
that Tribe, cannot per se be disregarded on the ground that his present
traits do not match his tribe's peculiar anthropological and ethnological
traits, deity, rituals, customs, mode of marriage, death ceremonies,
method of burial of dead bodies, etc. Thus, the affinity test may be
used to corroborate the documentary evidence and should not be the
sole criteria to reject a claim.