Meghalaya High Court Seeks Response to Matrilineal Khasi Lineage Act

• The Meghalaya High Court has sought a response to a petition challenging the Khasi Hills Autonomous District (Khasi Social Custom of Lineage) Act, 1997.

• The law restricts the issuance of Scheduled Tribe (ST) certificates to individuals who adopt their father’s or husband’s surname.

• The group, Syngkhong Rymphei Thymmai, advocates for reforms and a shift from matrilineal to patrilineal system.

• The petition refers to an official letter from the State’s Social Welfare Department in 2020, which clarified that the Lineage Act did not prevent surname adoption and allowed non-Khasi women to adopt their husband’s surname.

• The group argues that surname preference should not be the basis for denying an ST