The Madras High Court issued notice to the Election Commission on a plea seeking restriction of SC reserved seats to Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists. The bench sought responses and scheduled further hearing after two days on the contentious issue.
CHENNAI: The Madras High Court issued notice and asked the Election Commission of India and Tamil Nadu electoral authorities to respond to a petition seeking directions that only persons professing Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism be allowed to contest from constituencies reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC).
A bench of Chief Justice S.A. Darmadhikari and Justice Arul Murugan allowed Advocate Niranjan Rajagopalan, representing the Election Commission, to accept notice and obtain instructions.
The court ordered the matter to be listed for further hearing after two days.
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At the hearing, the court expressed doubts about the practical enforceability of the relief sought, especially how Returning Officers could verify a candidate’s religion during scrutiny of nomination papers. The bench observed that “Returning Officer has to go by the certificate and declaration filed,” noting that candidates submit caste certificates and sworn declarations when filing nominations.
The court queried what more authorities could do beyond those declarations. “How will you test it?” the Bench asked, referring to cases of conversion or reconversion that might require evidentiary determinations beyond the remit of election officials.
It added that if a declaration is subsequently found to be false, that would give rise to a separate dispute requiring proper legal adjudication.
The Court remarked,
“If ultimately it is found that the certificate is not rightly used, it is a dispute,”
The bench also pointed to the constitutional constraint under Article 329(b), which limits judicial intervention in electoral matters once the election process has begun.
The petition, filed by Hindu Munnani leader Arjun Sampath, relied on the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, asserting that SC status is limited to persons professing Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism. The petitioner cited a recent Supreme Court ruling holding that persons of other faiths cannot be recognized as members of Scheduled Castes, describing that disqualification as “categorical and absolute.”
He urged that Returning Officers be directed to undertake strict scrutiny of nomination papers and reject ineligible candidates at the outset. The court, however, wondered whether implementing such directions would require a “roving enquiry” by election officials into a candidate’s religious affiliation.
The court refused to grant interim relief, noting that nothing irreversible was likely to occur within the next 48 hours and that the issue could be considered in depth at the next hearing.
The case will be taken up for further hearing in two days, at which time the Election Commission and other authorities are expected to file their responses.
Case Title: Arjun Sampath Vs Chief Electoral Officer.
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