Earlier, The High Court ruled a person cannot claim Scheduled Caste status in Kerala after converting to Christianity, especially when the seat is reserved for Hindu SCs.
NEW DELHI: 6th May: In a big relief to Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader A Raja, the Supreme Court of India on Tuesday cancelled the Kerala High Court’s earlier decision that had declared his 2021 election from the Devikulam assembly constituency in Kerala as invalid.
The case, titled D Kumar v A Raja, came before a three-judge Bench of Justices Abhay S Oka, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Augustine George Masih. The top court allowed Raja’s appeal against the High Court’s verdict and also dismissed the election petition that had challenged his win.
“The appeal is allowed. High Court order set aside. Election plea set aside. Petitioner is entitled to hold the legislative post from the beginning,” the Supreme Court said.
A detailed judgment from the Supreme Court is still awaited.
In March 2023, the Kerala High Court had ruled that Raja was not eligible to contest from Devikulam, a constituency reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates, because he was professing Christianity at the time of his nomination.
According to the High Court, a person cannot claim Scheduled Caste status in Kerala after converting to Christianity, especially when the seat is reserved for Hindu SCs.
The judgment was given in an election petition filed by Congress candidate D Kumar, who had contested against A Raja in the 2021 Assembly election.
D Kumar argued that A Raja was a Christian, and therefore, not legally permitted to contest from a seat reserved for SC members of Hindu religion in Kerala. He also pointed out that even though he raised this objection before the Returning Officer, it was rejected without giving any reason. Raja had eventually won by a margin of 7,848 votes.
Raja, through his lawyers, argued that he belonged to the Hindu Parayan community, which is listed as a Scheduled Caste in Tamil Nadu. His family had migrated to Kerala long ago, and they had continued practicing Hinduism even before 1950, he claimed.
He further said that his parents had not converted to Christianity, and that he himself was never baptised, even though some church documents had his name.
The Kerala High Court had reviewed multiple documents before giving its verdict. These included:
- Raja’s wedding photographs
- Family register of the CSI Church
- Church baptism records
After looking into these, the High Court concluded that Raja was practicing Christianity at the time of filing his nomination and had converted to Christianity long before the election.
Based on this, the High Court had accepted D Kumar’s plea and declared that Raja’s election was void under the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
Raja then approached the Supreme Court, which has now given him a clean chit. With the High Court order cancelled and the election petition dismissed, Raja is now officially allowed to continue as the elected MLA from Devikulam.
“The appeal is allowed. High Court order set aside. Election plea set aside. Petitioner is entitled to hold the legislative post from the beginning,” the Supreme Court reiterated.
Case Name: D Kumar v A Raja
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