The allegation levelled against A. Raja was that he had filed his nomination papers claiming that he belongs to Hindu Parayan caste, a scheduled caste. File
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The Kerala High Court on Monday declared null and void the election of A. Raja , LDF candidate from the reserved assembly constituency of Devikulam in Idukki district.
The court passed the verdict while allowing a petition filed by D. Kumar, defeated UDF candidate challenging the election of Mr. Raja from the constituency. Mr. Raja won the constituency by a margin of 7848 votes.
The High Court set aside the election, accepting the contentions of the petitioner. The allegation levelled against Mr. Raja was that he had filed his nomination papers claiming that he belongs to Hindu Parayan caste, a scheduled caste. The caste certificate of the Devikulam Tahsildar submitted along with his nomination papers was incorrect. The petitioner contended that his rival is not a member of the scheduled caste community.
Petitioner’s argument
The petitioner further argued that those who belonged to the scheduled caste in the State of Kerala among Hindus alone will get the status of scheduled caste within the State of Kerala to contest in a constituency reserved for scheduled castes. A person belonging to the Christian religion or a converted Christian will not get the status of scheduled caste to contest in a reserved constituency. Section 5 of the Act specifically provides that a person shall not be qualified to be chosen to fill a seat in the legislative assembly unless, in the case of a seat reserved for the scheduled caste, he is a member of any scheduled caste in that State.
Mr. Raja is a Christian by religion and was baptised at the CSI Church, Kundara. He has also conducted his marriage in 2013 in accordance with the rites and rituals prevalent among the Christian community. The marriage was also duly entered in the marriage register kept at the CSI church. The petitioner alleged that that the certificate was issued by the Tahasildar without conducting a proper enquiry as to the religion and caste of the paternal grandparents and parents of Mr. Raja and the baptism alleged to have been performed at the CSI church, petitioner contended.
Raja’s statement
Mr. Raja , however, submitted that the caste certificate had been issued by the Tahsildar after complying with all legal formalities. Therefore, the acceptance of his nomination papers by the Returning officer was perfectly legal and proper. In fact, his paternal grandparents started to live in the erstwhile Travancore prior to 1950 and they were employees of the Kundala estate. He denied the allegation that he was baptised at the CSI church.
