A PIL has been filed in the Madras High Court seeking strict scrutiny of nomination papers to ensure only Hindus, Sikhs, or Buddhists can contest from SC-reserved constituencies. The plea relies on the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 and a recent Supreme Court ruling calling such disqualification “categorical and absolute.”
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed before the Madras High Court seeking strict enforcement of rules regarding candidates contesting from constituencies reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC). The petition has been filed by Hindu Munnani leader Arjun Sampath, who has asked the Court to direct election authorities to ensure that only those who meet the constitutional criteria are allowed to contest from SC-reserved constituencies.
According to the petition, the Chief Electoral Officer and all Returning Officers in Tamil Nadu should be directed to strictly scrutinize nomination papers of candidates contesting from Scheduled Caste reserved constituencies.
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The plea states that if any candidate does not meet the constitutional requirements for being recognized as a member of a Scheduled Caste, then their nomination should be rejected at the scrutiny stage itself.
The petition relies on the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950. As per this constitutional order, Scheduled Caste status is limited only to persons who profess Hinduism, Sikhism, or Buddhism. The plea argues that persons who follow any other religion are not entitled to claim Scheduled Caste status and therefore cannot contest elections from constituencies reserved for Scheduled Castes.
The petition also refers to a recent Supreme Court judgment dated March 24, in which the Court clearly held that a person who does not profess Hinduism, Sikhism, or Buddhism cannot be treated as a member of a Scheduled Caste.
The Court had observed that such disqualification is “categorical and absolute.” Based on this judgment, the petitioner argues that the law is already very clear and must be strictly followed during the election process.
The petitioner has further stated that the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections were notified on March 30 and that there are 44 constituencies reserved for Scheduled Castes in the State.
Because the election process has already started, the plea stresses that it is very important to enforce the constitutional rules at the stage of scrutiny of nomination papers itself, so that ineligible candidates are not allowed to contest from reserved seats.
The petition also mentions that Arjun Sampath had already submitted representations on March 30 and April 1 to the concerned authorities, requesting them to issue proper directions to Returning Officers to strictly verify the eligibility of candidates contesting from SC-reserved constituencies. However, according to the petitioner, no action was taken by the authorities on these representations.
The plea argues that if persons who are not legally eligible are allowed to contest from Scheduled Caste reserved constituencies, it would defeat the entire purpose of reservation.
Reservation for Scheduled Castes is a constitutional protection given to historically disadvantaged communities, and allowing ineligible candidates to contest would weaken this constitutional safeguard and go against the constitutional framework.
An interim application has also been filed along with the main petition. Through this interim plea, the petitioner has requested the Court to immediately direct the authorities to enforce strict scrutiny of nomination papers before the deadline for verification ends.
The petitioner has argued that immediate action is necessary to prevent any ineligible candidate from entering the election process from a reserved constituency.
The matter is expected to come up for hearing before the Madras High Court, where the Court may consider whether any directions are required to be issued to election authorities regarding scrutiny of nomination papers for Scheduled Caste reserved constituencies.
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