I 046

PRINCIPAL, GUNTUR MEDICAL COLLEGE, GUNTUR

v .

. Y. MOHAN RAO

April 6, 1976

(A. N. RAY, C.J., P. N. BHAGWATI, A. C. GUPTA, S. MURTAZA FAZAL

ALI AND JASWANT SINGH, JJ.)

Constitution 'of India-Articles 15(4), 29(2), 341~ 366(24)-Constilutlon . (Scheduled Castes} Order 1950-Scheduled Caste-A Hindu belonging to a Scheduled Caste-Whether cea.ies to belong to Scheduled Caste on conversion to Chrfa'tianity-Dn reconversion whether he regains mentbership of Scheduled Caste-Whether a verson must belong to Scheduled Caste by bir1h.

The parents of the respondent original_ly professed Hindu religion and belongcl to fildiga caste which is a scheduled caste, in the Andhra Pradesh as spe~Hied in the schedule to the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950.

Resrondent's parents were converted' to Christianity and thereafter the respondent was born. The respondent got himself _converted to Hinduism renouncing . Christianity. Thereafter, he applied for admission to Guntur ~Iedical College on the basis that he was a member of a Scheduled Caste. 1-!e was provi~ siona11y selected for admission but subsequently was informed by the PrincipaI of the College that his selection was cancelled as he was not a Hindu by birth. Tue Principal relied on Note (b) to Clause C of rule 2 of the Rules issuett by the Government of Andhra Pradesh for admission to the M.B.B.S.

, ourse iil Government Medical College. The said note provides that no candidate other than Hindu can claim to belong to Scheduled Caste. It further

pro\-ides that no candidate can belong to Scheduled ste except by birth.

The respondent filed a Writ Petition in the High Court challenging the validity of Note (b} as going beyond the scope of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950. The respondent succeeded before the teamed Single Judge as well as the Division Bench of the- High Court. In fact, it was conceded by the appellant before the High Court that note (b) \VJs repugnant to the sald Order. ,

Dismissing the cippeal by Special Leave,

HELD: 1. It is clear on a plain rcadlni of clause 4 of Article 15 that the State has power to make special provision for scheduled castes and in exercise of its power the State can reserve seats in a Medical College for members of Scheduled Castes without violating Article IS or Article 29(2). Articlo 366(24) defines Scheduled Castes to mean such castes. races or tribes as are deemed under Article 34 l to be scheduled castes. The President in exercise of the powers conferred upon him under Article 341 bas issued Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order 1950. Madiga caste is included in the schedule to. the said order. The said order itself, however. provides that no person whe> professes a religion other than Hindu or Sikh shall be deemed t<> be a mem her of a scheduled caste.

It~ however~ does not require that he should have been born a Hindu or a Sikh. The only thing required is that at the material time he should profess Hindu or Sikh religion. The requirement of the note that a candidate in prd.er to be eligible for a reserved seat should be a member of a Scheduled Caste by birth went beyond the said order and wa~ rightly condemned as void. [1049B-H. !050AI

2. There is no absolute rule applicable in all cases that whenever a member of a caste is converted from Hinduism to Christianity he loses his membership of the caste.

It would depend upan the structure' of the caste and its rules and regulations .. There are some castes,

GUN TUR MEDICAL COLLEGE \'. Y. MOHAN RAO (Bhagwati, J.) I 04 7

particularly in South India, where this consequence does not follow on A con\'ersion since such castes comprise both Hindus and Christians.

Whether Madiga caste falls in this category is a debatable question. For the purposes of the present appeal it is not necessary to decide the contention of the respondent that there are both Hindus and Christians in Madiga caste and l.!VCn after conversion to Christianity his parents continued to belong to Madiga "'"te. [!050-C.F]

3. A similar question about the effect of re-conversion was decided by B !his Court in the case of C. R. Arun1ugarn vs. S. /?aiaRof)af.

In that case this Court laid down that there is no reason to hold that a person on reconversion to Hinduism cannot once again become a member of the caste in which he was born and to which he belonged before conversion to nnother religion.

The reasoning on which this decision proceeded is equally applicable in a case where the parents of a person nre contertcd from rHnduism..-to Chri:ltianity and he is born after their conversion and on his subsequent en1braching Hinduism, the n1e111bers of the caste to which the parents belong prior to their rnnvcr, ion accept him as a member within the fold. It is for the members C of the caste to decide whether or not to ndmit a person within the caste.

Since the cast(; is a ocial con1bination of persons governed by its rules and regulations, it n1<1y, if its rutes nnd regulation-; so provide, admit a new inemhcr just as it n1ay expel an existing men1ber.

The only rcquircn1nt for admission of ;1 ptrson as a member of the caste i') the acceptance of the rcrson by lhe other members of the caste.

On conversion to Hinduism a person would not becon1e a member of the caste to which his parents belonged

prior to their conversion, automatically or as a matter of course but he would D become such 1nernber if the other members of the caste accept him as a member and admit him within the fold.

(10500. !051B-E]

There i-; nothino on record to show \vhether the respondent \Vas <icceptcd hy indiga cnste. "'However, it is not necessary to undertake this enquiry becaus.: it ha:; been agreed by the appellants that whatever be the n:sult of the appeal. the ndmission of the respondent would not be disturbed. [1051-FGl

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 984 of 1975.

I'.

Appeal by Special Leave from the judgment and Order dated the I 0th February 1975 of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in W.A. No. 752 of 1974.

P. Ra111acha11dra Reddy, Advocate Ge11eral, A.P .. P. P. Rao and V Seetharaman, for the appellant.

R. C. Raghavan, G. Vedanta Rao and B. Ka11ta Rao, !or the rcspundenl.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

BHAGWATI, J.

The short question that arises for determination

.111 this appeal is: whether a person whose parents belonged to a Scheduled Caste before their conversion to Christianity can, on conversion or reconversion to Hinduism, be regarded as a member of the Scheduled Caste so as to be eligible for the benefit of reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes in the matter of a admission to a mediC'31 college.

The parents of the respondent originally professed Hindu religion and belonged to Mactiga caste which is admittedly a caste deemed to be a Schedtt!cd Caste in the State of Andhra Pradesh as specified in Part I of the Schedule to the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order,

1950. They were both converted to Chri5tianity at some point of time

I 048

SUPREME COURT )'.EPORTS

[ 1976] 3 S.C.R.

which does not appear clearly from the record, but it was the case of the respondent in his Writ Petition that he was born after their conversion. This was also the assumption on which the arguments proceeded before the High Court and before us, too.

The counsel :lbr the respondent expressed his readiness to argue the case on the same assumption, namely, that the respondent was born after the conversion of his parents', or, in other words, he was born of Christian parents. It appears that in the State of Andhra Pradesh, for the purpose inter alia of admission to medical college, converts to Christianity arc treated as belonging to backward class and, therefore, when the respondent applied for admission to Gandhi Medical College in 1973, he described

himself as a member of a backward class. But he did not succeed in getting admission. Thereupon he got himself converted to Hinduism on 20th September, 1973 from Andhra Pradesh Arunchatiya Sangham stating that he had renounced Christianity and embraced Hinduism after going through Suddhi ceremqny and he was thereafter "received

back into Mediga caste of Hindu fold".

On the strength of this certificate, claiming to be a member of Madiga caste, the respondent applied for admission to Guntur Medical College and on the basis that he was a member of a Scheduled Caste, he was proY.isionally selected liar admission. But subsequently he was informed by the Principal of the Medical College that his selection was cancelled os he was not a Hindu by birth. The Principal apparently relied on Note (b) to clause (C) of rule 2 of the Rules issued by the Government of Andhra'Pradesh under GO Rt. No. 1315 dated 4th December, 1973 for admission to the M.B.B.S. Course in Government Medical Colleges for the Academic year 1973-74. This Note was in the following terms:

"No candidate other than Hindu including a Sikh can claim to belong to Schedule Castes. No candidates can claim to belong to the Scheduled Caste except by b:irth."

The respondent thereupon preferred a writ petition in the High Court of Andhra Pradesh challenging the validity of cancellation of his admission on the ground that Note (b ), which required that a candidate, in order to be eligible flor a seat reserved for Scheduled Caste, should belong to a Scheduled Caste by birth, went beyond the scope of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 and was, therefore, void and the Principal was not entitled to cancel his admission on the ground that he was not a Hindu or a member of a Scheduled Caste by birtb.

This ground of challenge was accepted by a Single Judge of the High Court and on appeal, a Divis!ion Bench of the High Court also took the same view.

In fact, it was conceded before the Division Bench by the learned Government Pleader appearing on behalf of the State that Note (b) was repugnant to the provisions o1l cl. (3) of the Comtitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, since the only requirement of that clause was that in order to be a member of a Scheduled Caste, a person should be professing Hindu or Sikh religion and it did not prescribe that he should be a Hindu by birth. The State did not succeed in obtaining leave to appeal from the High Court and hence it preferred a special leave petition to this Court.

When the 'pecial leave petition came up for hearing, there was no decis!ion of

<; UNTUR MEDICAL COLLEGE v. Y. MOHAN RAO (Bhagwati, !.) 1049

this Court dealing with the question as to whether a convert or re- A convert to Hinduism can become a member of a Scheduled Caste and :if so, in what circumstances and hence we granted special leave to the State, on the State agreeing that whatever be the result of the appeal, the admission of the respondent will not be disturbed and that the State will, in any event, pay the costs of the respondent.

It may be pointed out that since then a decision on this question has been rendered by a Bench of three judges of th:is Court to which B we shall refer later.

It is clear on a plain reading of clause (4) of Art. 15 that the State has power to make special provision ior Scheduled Castes and in exercise of this power, the State can reserve scats in a medical college for members of Scheduled Castes without violating Art. 15 or cl. (2) of Art. 29.

The expression 'Scheduled Castes' has a technical meaning given to it by cl. (24) of Art. 366 and it mcam "'such castes. races or tribes or parts of or groups within such castes. + races or tribes as arc deemed under article 341 to be Scheduled Castes for the purposes of this Constitution." The PresiJent in exercise of the power conferred up(ln him under Art. 341 has issued the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, ! 950.

Paragraphs ( 2) and (3) of this Order arc material and they read as follows:

"2. Subject to the provisions of this Order, the castes, races or tribes or parts of or groups within caste or trlibes 'opeeified in Part I to XIII ofi the Schedule to this Order shall. in relation to the States to which these parts respecttively relate, be deemed to be scheduled castes so far as regards members thereof resident in the localities specified in relation to them in those Parts of that Schedule.

3. Not\vithstanding anything contained in P<iragraph 2, no

person who profesoos a religion different from the Hindu or the Sikh religion sha1! be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste." F

The Schedule to this Order in Part I sets out the castes, races or tribes or parts of or groups within castes or tribes which shall in the different areas of the State of Andhra Pradesh be deemed to be Scheduled Castes.

One of the castes specified there is Madiga caste and that caste must, therefore, be deemed to be a Scheduled' Caste. But by reason of cl. (3), a person belonging to Madiga caste would not be .. dmed to ?c a ne~1ber of a Scheduled Caste unless l).e professes \ Hindu or Sikh religion at the relevant time. It is not necessary that ' he should have been born a Hindu or a Sikh.

The only thing required is that he should at the material time be professing Hihdu or Sikh religion.

Now, Note (b) was interpreted by the Principal of tI1e Medical College to require that a candidate, in order to be eligible for a seat reserved for Scheduled Castes, should be a Hindu by birth.

Tlis interprcJation was plainly erroneous because what Note (b) reqmred was not that a cansidatc should be a Hindu by birth but that

I 05 0

SUPREME COURT REPORTS [19761 3 s.c.R.

A he should belong to a Schednled Oaste by birth. . But even this requirement that a candidate v,1 order to be eligible for a reserved seat shon!d be a member of a Schednled Caste by birth went beyond the provision in cl. ( 3) of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order. y 1950 and was rightly condemned as void and no reliance was placed upon it on behalf of the Srate.

B The principal argument adval,1ced on behalf of the State was that when the respondent was converted to Hinduism, he did not automatically become a member of the Madiga caste, but it was open to the members of the Madiga caste to accept him within their fold and it was only if he was so accepted, that he could claim to have become a member of the Madiga caste. There was no evidence in the present case, contended the State, showing that the respondent, on his conver- C sion to Hinduism, was accepted as a member of the Madiga caste by the other members of that caste and, tilerefore, he was not at the time of his application for admission a member of a Schednled Caste.

Now, before we proceed to consider this contention, it is neces- .+ sary to point out that there is no absolute rule applicable in all cases that whenever a member of a caste is converted from Hi,1duism to Christianity, he loses his membership of the caste. This question has been considered by this Court in C. M. Arumugam v. S. Rajgopal(') and it has been pointed out there that ordinarily it is true that on conversion to Christianity, a person would cease to be a member of the caste to which he belongs, but that is not an invariable rule. It would depend on the structure of the caste and its rules and regulations.

There are some castes, particularly in South India, where this consequence does not follow on conversion, since such castes comprise both Hindus and ChristiffiQs.

Whether Mediga is a caste which fulls within this category is a debatable question. The contention of ' the respondent in bis writ petition was that there are both Hindus and Christians in Madiga caste and even after conversioa to Christianity, his parents continued to belong to Madiga caste and he was, therefore, a member of Madiga caste right from the time of his birth. It is not necessary for the purpose of the present appeal to decide this question.

We may assume that, on conversion to Christianity, the pare1,1ts of the respondent lost their membership of Madiga caste and that the res]JO!ldent was, therefore. not a Madiga by birth.

The question is ': conld the respondent become a member of Madiga caste on conversion to Hinduism ? That is a question on which considerable light is thrown hv the decisicm of this Court in C. M. Arumugam

v. S. Rajgopal (supra).

The main question which arose for decision in C. M. Arumugam /

v. S. Rafgopal l•unra) was whether S. Raigopa!, who belonged to Adi Dravida caste before his conversion to Christianitv. could. on reconversion to Hinduism, Clace again become a member of the Adi Dravida caste.

This Court. after examining the auestion on Principle and referring to the decided cases, pointed out that the consistent view taken in this rountry since 1886 was that on reconversion to

(l) [1976] 1 s.c.c. 863.

GUNTUR ME[)JCAL COLLEGE v. Y. MOHAN RAO (Bhagwati, J:) I 051

Hinduism, a person can once again become a member of the caste in.

A which he was born and to which he belonged before conversion to another religion, if the memb, ers of the caste accept him as a member.

This Court observed that there was 110 reason, either o~ piinciple or on authority, which should compel it to disregard this view which has prevailed for almost a century and lay down a different rule on the subject and concluded that on reconversion to Hinduism, S. Rajgopal could once again revert to his Adi Dravida caste, for he was accepted B by the other members of the caste.

The reasoning on which this decision proceeded is equally applicable i,1 a case where the parents of a person ure converted from Hinduism to Christianity and he is born after their conversion and on his subsequently embracing Hinduislli, the members of the caste to which the parents belonged prior to their conversion accept him as a

C \ member within the fold. It is for the members of the caste to decide whether or not to admit a perso>,1 within the caste. Since the caste is a social combination of persons governed 11Y its rules and regulations, it may, if 'its rules and regulations so provide, admit a new member just as it may expel an existing member. The only requirement for admission of a person as a member of the caste is the acceptance of the person by the other members of the caste, for, as pomted D out by Krishnaswami Ayya1agar, J., in Durgaprasada Rao v. Sudarsanaswami('), "in matters affecting the well being or composition of a caste, the caste itself is the supreme iudge". (emphasis supplied).

It will, therefore, be seen that on conversion to Hinduism, a person born of Christian colaverts would not become a member of the caste to which his parents belonged prior to their conversion to Christianity, automatically or as a matter of course, but he would become such f\ E member, if the other members of the caste accept him as a member , I and admit hinl within the fold. ·

This view would have ordinarily required us to find whether, on the material on record, it could be said to have been established by the respondent that, on conversion to Hinduism, he was accepted as a member of Madiga caste by the other members of that caste, for F it is only if he was so accepted that he could clainl to be a member of a Scheduled Caste.

But it is not necessary for us to undertake this inquiry because. as already pointed out, it has been agreed by the State that, whatever be the result of this appeal, the admission of the respondent will not be disturbed.

We accordingly dismiss the appeal with costs in favour of the respondelat.

P.H.P.

Appeal dismisred.

(l) A.J.R. 1940 Mad. 513.