The Supreme Court (SC), dealing with the issue of what should be the parameters available to the Caste Scrutiny Committee (CSC) for verification of caste certificate held that the Affinity Test, used to ascertain whether a person follows the traditional cultural traits of a community, cannot be a litmus test and must only be used as a corroborative exercise. The SC further said that CSC ought to be given some discretion to accept or reject the caste certificates and primary importance must be given to the documentary evidence as is evident from the scheme of relevant statutes and rules.
