Holding

On reconversion to Hinduism, a person may regain his original Scheduled Caste status if accepted by the community, and no specific expiatory ceremony is required.

Summary

The appellant S. Anbalagan challenged the election of B. Devarajan, who had been elected from a Lok Sabha seat reserved for Scheduled Castes, on the ground that Devarajan was a Christian by birth and therefore not a member of the Scheduled Caste. The Election Tribunal held that Devarajan was a Hindu Adi Dravida, had reconverted to Hinduism, and was accepted by his community, thus qualifying for the reserved seat. On appeal, the Supreme Court examined whether conversion to another religion extinguishes caste status and whether reconversion restores it, and whether any expiatory ceremony is required. Relying on a series of South Indian precedents, the Court affirmed that caste membership is not lost permanently on conversion and can be regained on reconversion if the caste community accepts the person, without any mandatory ritual. The Court found that Devarajan had been treated as a Hindu Adi Dravida throughout his life, had no evidence of practising Christianity after childhood, and was duly elected by the voters of the reserved constituency. Consequently, the appeal was dismissed and the election upheld.

Issues considered

Whether a person who converts to Christianity loses his Scheduled Caste status under the Representation of the People Act.
Whether reconversion to Hinduism restores Scheduled Caste status without any specific expiatory ceremony.
Whether acceptance by the caste community is a necessary condition for regaining caste membership.
Whether the first respondent qualified to contest a seat reserved for Scheduled Castes.

Legislation cited

Representation of the People Act, 1951

Subjects

Scheduled Caste reservationConversion and reconversionCaste statusRepresentation of the People ActElection lawHindu lawReligious conversion

Judgment

973
S. ANBALAGAN
A
v

B. DEVARAJAN & ORS.

December 5, 1983 . B
[S. MUR:fAZA FAZAL ALI, 0. CHINNAPPA REDDY AND

E. s. VENKA'l'ARAMIAH, JJ.] .

Jlindu Law......,..Hindu embracing another. religion-whether retains
c
original cast. On recon'version to Hinduism-Whether performance of any
particular Ceremony or expiatory rites necessary.
•
Representation of the people Act.-Parllamentary electlon7 Constituency
r,eservedfor scheduled castes-Whetker a Hindu Adi Dravidti (scheduled cast) on D
ieconvei'sion to Hinduism belongs to scheduled COS!tS.

The first respondent was elected to the Lok Sabha frorri a constituency
, which was reserved for the Scheduled Castes, The appellant challanged the
election of the first respondent on the ground that he was not a rrien1ber of the
Scheduled Castes. The elec£ion Tribunal found that the first respondent belong-
ed to the Scheduled Caste and upheld the electioii. Hence this appeal. The E
a·ppellant urged that the parents and the sisters of the respondent were shown
to be Christians and the respondent was born a Christian and there was no wav
he coulg acquire a caste and become an Adi Dravida · on conversion t~
Hinduism.

Dismissing the appeal. F
HELP : At an· relevant time, .the first respondent was a Hindu Adi
Dravida and· professed-no religion other than Hipduism.

The precedents, particularly those from South India, clearly estab1ish
that no particular ceremony is prescribed for reconversion to Hinduism of a
Pe.r!on who had earlier embrased another religion. Unless the practice of the
G
Caste makes it ne~essary no expiatory rites need be performed-and, ordinarily,
he regains this caste uriless the comrilun_ity does not accept hi~. In fRct, it may
not be accurate to say that lie regains his caste, it may be more accufate
to say that he never lost his caste in the first instance whe.n he embraced an- .
other religion. The practice of caste however irrational it may appear tQ our H
reason and howCver repugnant it may appear to our nloral and social sense;
is so deeprooted in the Indian people that its mark does not seegi. to disoppear
on conversion to a different religion. If !t _disappears, it disappears. only to re-
974 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1984) l S.C.R,

appear ~n reconversion. The mai:k of caste does: not seem to really disappear
A even after some generati~ns after conversion. l~81A-C]

Administrator_;General .of Madras v. AnOndachari &: Ors. !LR 9
'MADRAS 466, Muthusami Mu,fa/ia & Alir, v. Masi/amani & Ors. JLR 33
MADRAS 342, Gurusami Nadttr v. lru/appa Konar, 67 MADRAS LAW
JOURNAL 399, Ramayya v. Mrs. Josep/Jine Elizabeth, AIR 1937 MAD 172,
B Goona Durgaprasad Rao.v. Sudarsanaswa1ni, ILR 1940 MAD 653, Rajgopalv.
Armugom & Ors. [1969] I SCR 254, Rajgopa/ v. Armugam [1969] I SCR 254,
Perun1al Nadar v; Ponnuswami (1971J I SCR 49, Ver1nani v. Vermani ~IR 1943
LAHORE 51 and Chatt.urbhuj Vithaldas Jasani V. Moreshwe; Parasfrram & Ors .
. (1954] SCR 817, referred to.

c In .the ihstant case the birth extract of the first respondent shows his
parents as Hindu Adi Dravidas. Through out his educational ·career~· ;he was
treated as a Hindu student belongii:g to the Scheduled Castes and was awaided
scli.oiarShips on that basis. The school records relating to his childern also
show them as Hindu Adi Dravidas. He never attended a church. On the other •
bandthere is acceptable evidence to :;how that he was offering worship to Hindu
. deities in. Hindu tamples and that his nlarriage was performed according to
D Hfndu custom and rites. Even assuming that tlie parents and sisters of the firsi
respondent had become Christians and that the first respondent hi_mself had
1teen baptiSed when he was seveh months old, there is no· difficulty. in holding,
on the evidence in the case, that the first respondCnt had long since reverted to
Hinduism and to the Adi Dravida Caste. There is not a scrap of acceptable
evidence to show that he ever professed Christianity after he came of age, On
E the other hand, every bit of evidence .in the case shows that· fi'om his chiidhood,
he was always. practising Hinduism cind was treated by ev.eryone concerned .is
an Adi Dravida. There.is then the outstandi~g circumstance that the voters of
the Constituency reserved for the Scheduled Castes accepted his candid~ture
for the reserved seat and elected him to the Lok Sabha twice. (891H ; 892A-E]

CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION:' Civil Appeal No. 544 of 1981.
F
From the Judgment and Order dated 23rd December, 1980 of .J.
the Madras High Court at Madras in Election Petition No, I
of 1980.

G Dr. Y.S. Chitale, P.N. RamG1lingam and A.'l'.M. Sampath for
the Appellant.

M.C. Bhandare, K. 'Rajen!ra Chowdhary and K.S. Chowdhary
for the Respondents .
.H
A.V. Rpngam for the Respondent No. 7,
s. AN~ALA GAN v. DEVARAJAN (Chinnappa Reddy, J.) 975

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
CHINNAPPA REDDY, J. 3, 26, 112 adult men and women voters A
of Rasipuram Parliamentary Constituency reserved for the Scheduled
Castes accepted the candidature of the first Respondent, B. Devarajan
for the reserved seat; apparently considered him as a member of the
Scheduled Castes, voted for him and elected him to the Lok Sabha,
by a convincing majority of nearly sixty thou~and votes at the
election held in January 1980. And, it was not the first time. He
was in fact a sitting member of the Lok Sabha having .been elected
from the. same reserved constituency at the· previous general electibn
also, But the verdict of the people was not sufficient· for the
., appellant, S. Anb~lagan, who secured I, 76,240 votes in the January
1980 poll and lost the election. He wanted the verdict of an c
Election Tribunal on the question whether the respondent was a
Charistian and not a member of the Scheduled Castes, as qlaimed
by )lirn. 'So he filed an election petition questioning the. election on
that ground. The Election Tribunal on an eleborate consideration.
of the evidence held that the appellant belonged to the Scheduled
D
Cast~s and, on that finding, upheld the election. Anbalagan has
preferred this. appeah ' ·
Dr. Chitale, learned 'counsel for the appellant, canvassed the
· finding of the Election Tribunal that. the respondent was a Hindu
A~i Dravida and, therefore, a member of the Scheduled ·castes. He
argued that the parents. and the sisters of the respondent were shown E
to be Christians and the respon.dent though obviously a Christian
himself was pr~te~ding to be a member of the Scheduled Casets for
. the purpose of gaining some advantages. He invited our attention
• to the Baptismal certificate and certain other documents and urged
that the Respondent .was born . a Christian and there was no way F
he could acquire a caste and become an Adi Dravida on conversion
to Hinduism.
In order to properly appreciate the questions involved, it is
necessary first to understand the legal position in regard to cas.te- ·
status on conversion or reconversion to Hinduism.
·1n Adminisf.rator-Genera/ of Madras v. Anan(/achari & Others{ 1), • .G
a learned· single Judge of the Madras High Court held that the
conversion of a Hindu . Brahmin to Christianity rendered him,
according to Hindu Law, an out caste and degraded. It was also

r ~;:~:~~e~h~~ ~~; ~:~:~d::i:~~~!:n~ei;~~n~~ !~; ~~~. t~:r~~;v:r: . a
(I) !LR 9 Madras 466,
976 SUP!UiME COURT REPORTS • (19841 I s.c.R.

life· renounced Christianity and performed t~ rites .. of eilpiation
A enjoined by his caste.

In Muthusami Mudaliar .& Anr. v, Masilamimi & Others(')
Shankaran Nair, J. explained at length the' process of formation of
castes .and.also pointed out .how simple the matter of reconversion to
B Hinduism. was wlien a Hinilu changed his religion and later reverted
•back to Hinduism.

• In Gurusami Nadar v. Irulappa Konar('), Varadachariar, J.
explained the observations made in certain cases by Anan ta· Krishna
Iyer, J._about the necessity of expiatory ceremonies for reconversion
c to Hinduism and pointed out that in those cases, the alleged · recon-
. version was .into the Brahmin. community of Hindus and it was
possible to suggest that certain vedic rites would have been adopted
. in such cases. Expiatory ceremonfos, it was further pointed out,
would be necessary if such was the· practice· of the community· and
-
not otherwise: One had, therefore, only to . look to the iense
.
community and no mpre. Jin Ramayya v: Mrs. Joaephine Elizabeth(')
of the

Venkatasubba Rao, OCJ and·Venkataraniana.Rao, J. approved the
observations of Varadachariar, J:. and thought it unnecessary to
pur~ue th~ matter further. Mockett and Krishnaswami Ayyangar;
JJ. in Goona Durgaprasad Rao v. Sudarsanaswami('J.·observed that a
E convert from the Baliji ca,ste to Christianity, on reconversion went
' back into the fold of the Baliji community and wher~ there was no
evidence about the necessity for expiatory ceremonies, it was hardly
right for the court to erect a barrier which the autonomy of the
caste did .not require, simply because, in some other community.
F expiatory ceremonies were thought necessary. • ' "

In Rajagopal v. Armugam and Others{'), the appellant was
elected from a constituency r,eserved for members ·of the Scheduled
Castes and the election was questioned on the ground that he . was
n'ot a Hindu but a Christian and that he was not qualified to be
elected from a constituency reserved for the Scheduled Ca~tss.. The

(!) !LR 33 Madras 342.
(2) 67 .Madras Law Journal 389.
(3) AIR 1937 Mad. 172..
'(4). ILR 1940 Mad. 653.
(SJ (1969) .l S.C.R. 254.
s. ANBALAGAN v. a: DEVARAJAN (Chinnappa Reddy, J.) ·977

court found that the appellant had pecome a Christian in 1949 and
. that from about 1967 ·onwards he certainly started. pr0fessing the
Hindu religion. The court however, held that the appellant 'had lost
his Adi Dravida Hindu caste on embracing Christianity \nd, on the
evidence pefore the court, it·Wa• not .possible to hold that h_e had·
regained his caste on reconversion to· Cinduism. The general
question whether membership of a caste could be acquired by B
conversion or reconversion· to Hinduism was not decided in the·
case,

Rajagopal. who succeeded at the election held in 1967, but
· whose election was set aside on the ground that he was ·a Christian
and not a member of the Scheduled Castes and Ari{,ugam who Jost
c
the election in 1967, but successfully· challenged the election of
Rajagopal by way of an election petition . (vide Rajogopa/ v.
Arinugam(') referred .to in the previous _paragraph) were again
contestants afthe election held in 1972 from the ~ame constituency
reserved for members of the -Scheduled Castes, Rajgopal was again D
Successful in the. election. His election wa~ once more impeached by·
Arumugam .. But this time Rajgopal farred better. His election was
upheld first by the High Court and then by the Supreme Court :
(1976 (3) S. C. R. 82) The Supreme Court held that the Question
whether Rajagopal embraced Christianity in 1949 and ·whether he · E
was ieconeverted to Hinduism was concluded by the earlier decision
of- the court. The view of the High Court ie the immediate case
before 'them that on reconversion 'to Hindµism, lie could revert to.•
• his original caste if he was accepted ,as such by the other members of
the caste was accepted as correct On the evidence, it was found that
after reconversion to Hinduism he was recognised and accepted as a F
.meml!er of the Adi Dravida Hindu caste by the other members· of
the community. The court consisting of Chandrachud, J. (as he then.
was), ·Bhagwat1 and Sarkaria, JJ. noticed that it .was not an infrequent . ·
phenomenon in South India for a person to continue to be regarded
as belonging to his 'original caste even after conversion to Christianity 'G
The decisions of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, in Kothapalli
Narasayya v. Jammana Jogi and K. Narasrmha Reddy v. G. Bhupatti
were noticed. It was then 9bserved :

"It cannot, therefore, be laid· down as. an absolute H
(1)'(1969] I SCI~ 254
.97g SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1984) 1 s.c.a.

rule uniformly applicable fo all cases ihat whenever a
A member of a caste' is converted from Hinduism to
Christianity, he loses his membership of the caste. It is
true tltat ordinarily that on conversion to Christianity, he
would cease to be a member of the c~ste, but that is not
an inveriable rule. It would depend on the· structure of
B the caste and its rules and regulations. There are castes,
particularly in South India, where the consequence does .
not follow on conversiod since such castes comprise
from Hindus and Christians".·

The learned Judges than proceeded to consider . the question
c whether Rajag 0_pal could once again become a member of Adi
Dravida caste even if it was assume that .be bad ceased to be such.
on conversion to Christianity. After referring to the Madras cases ../
already noticed by us earlier, it was held :

"These cases show that the consistent view taken in
D this country. from th.e time Administrator-General of
Madras v. Anandacbari was decided, that is, since 1886,
. bas been that on reconve(sion to Hinduism, a person can
once again become a member of the caste in which he·has
born and to which be belonged before conversion to
E another religion, if the members of the caste accept. him
as a member. There is no reason either on principle or on
authority which should compel us to disregard this view
which bas prevailed for almost a· century and lay down a
.different. rule on the subject. If a person who has embraced
another religion can be reconverted to Hinduism, there is
F no rational principle why be should not be able to come·
back to his caste, if the other members of.the csste are
prepared to readmit him as a member. It stands to reason
that he should be able to come back to the fold to which
he once belonged provided of course the community is
G willing to take him within the fold .......... "

":................. ...A Mahar or a Koli or a ·
Mala would not be recognised as anything but a Mahar or
a Koli or a Mala after reconversion to Hinduism and he
would suffer from .the same social and economic disabi·
H lities from which ·he suffered before he was converted to
another religion. It is, therefore, obvious that the object
and purpose of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes}
•
s. ANBALAGAM i>. B. DilVARAIAN (Chinhappa Reddy, J.) 979
order, 1950 would be advanced-rather than retarded by
·taking the view tliat oh reconversion to Hinduism a A •
person can once again become a member of the Scheduled_
Caste to which he belonged prior to his conversion. We
'accordingly agree with the view taken by .the High Court
• that on reconversion, to Hinduism, the !st respondent
'could once again revert to his original Adi Dravida caste
B
if he was accepted as such by the other members of the
cast."

In Perumal Nader v. Ponnuswami,( 1) the question arose whether
Annapazham, daughter_ of an Indian Christian and herself a Chris·
tian by birth: could be converted to Hinduism · without the perfore- C
mance . of any expiatory ceremonies ? The court held that formal
ceremoney of purification or expiation was unnecessary. It was
observed:

"A person may be a Hindu by birth or by conversion.
. A mere theoretical allegiance to the Hindu faith by a D
persicin born in another faith does not convert him into
a Hindu, nor is a bare declaration that he is a Hindu
sufficient to convert him to Hinduism, But a bona fide
intention to be converted to the Hindu faith, accompanied
by conduct unequivocally expressing that intention may E
be sufficient evidence of conversion. No formal ceremony
of purification or expiation is necessa_ry to effectuate
. conversion."

All the cases so far considered are from South India. To
conclude the discussion, we may also refer to Vermani v. Vermani(') F
and Ghatturbhuj Vithaldas Jasani v. Moreshwer Parashram.& others(•)
both of which are cases from elsewhere.

In Virmani v. Virmani, a Fu,11 Bench of the Lahore High· Court ·
· following the decision of the Madras High Court in ILR 1940 .G
MADRAS 653 held ·that it was not necessary for a Hindu convert
to Christianity to undergo any expiatory ceremonies before he could
revert to -Iris orginal religion. His conduct and the circumstance that

H
•
(I) [1971) 3 S.C.R. 49.
(2) AIR 1943 LAHORE 51
(3) [1954] SCR 817.
'•
SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1984) 1 s.c.tt.

he was .·received by his community were sufficient to establish his
• A reversion to Hinduism. .,

. In C::hatturbhnj's case, a question arose whether· a member of
)

the Mahar·caste which was one of the Scheduled Castes continued
to. be a member of the Mahar· caste despite llis conversion to the •
tenets Mahanubhava Panth, a sect, the founder of which repudiated
the caste·system and a multiplicity of Gods. Bose; J. after noticing
the complexities brought in the train of conversion: observed : )

"Looked at from the secular point of view, there are
three factors which have to be considered : (I) the reac~
c tiohs of the old body, (2) the intentions of the individual
himself and (3) the rules. of the new order.. If .the old
order is tolerant of the new faith and sees no reason to .
outcaste or ex-communicate the convert and the indivi-
dual himself desires 'and intends to retain his old social
D and )Jolitical ties, the conversion is only nominal for all
practical purposes and .when we have to consider the legs!
l!nd ,politicai rights of the old body the views of the new
faith hardly matter. The new body is free to ostracise and
outcaste the convert from its fold if be does not adhere to
its tenets, but it can· hardly claim the right to interfere in
E matters which concern the political rights of the old body
when neither the old body . nor the convert is !<£•king
either legal or political favours from the new as opposed
· to purely spiritual advantage. On the other hand, if the
convert has shown by his conducf and .dealings that his
F break from the old order is so complete and final that he
no longer regards.himself as a member. of the old body
and there is no reconversion and readmittance to the old
fold, it would be wrong to hold that he ·can nevertheless
claim temporal privileges and political . advantages which
· are special (o the old order."

J;Jose, J. found that ·whatever the views. of the founder of the
..
Mahamibbava sect night have. been about caste,. it was evident that
there had been no rigid adherance t~ them among his followers in
late; years. They had either changed their view or they bad. not. been
'H . able to keep a tight enough control over converts who choose to retain . ·ii(
their
. .
old caste customs. On a consideration of the evidence it was

.
s: ANBALAGAN y, B, DfVARAIAN ( Chinnappa II.eddy, I.) 9Sf
found that the convert from the Mahar ca~te retained his caste even
after conversion. A
These precedents, particularly those . from South India, clearly ·
·estaplish that no particular ceremony is prescribed for conversion to·
!finduism of a person -who had earlier embraced another religion,
Unless the practice of the caste makes it necessary, expiatory rites
need be performed and, ordinarily, he regains his caste uniess the ll
communiiy does not accept him .. In fact, it may not be accurate to
say that he regains his caste ; it .may be more accurate to' say that he
never lost his caste in the first instance when he embraced. another
religion. The practice of caste however irratioJlal it . may appear· to
our reason and however repugnant it may appear to our moral and
social sense, is so deeprooted in the Indi~a ·people that its mark does
c
not seem to disappear on conversion to a different religion. If it
disappears, · only to reappear on reconversion. The mark
of caste does not seem to really ·disappear. even after some' genera-
tions after conversion: In Andhra 'Ptadesh and in Tamil Nadu, th~re
are several thousands of Christian families whose forefathers ·became D
Christians and who, though they profess the Christiai;i religfon, none-
theless observe the practice of Caste. There ·are Christian Reddies,
Christian Kammas, CerisHan Nadars, 'Christian ~di-Andhras,
Christiai;i Adi Dravidas and so on. The practice of their caste is so
rigorous that there. are intermarriages with Hindus of the same E
caste but not with. Christians of· another caste. Now, if such a
Christian becomes a Hindu, surely he will revert t.o his original
caste, if he had lost it at all. In fact this process goes on continuous-
ly inlndia and generation by generation lost sheep appear to return
to the casts-fold and are once again assimilated in that fold: This
appears to be particularly so in the case of members of the Schedid- F
ed Castes, wbo embrace other religions in their quest for liberation
' . '
but return to their old religion <in finding that their .disabilities: have
clung to them with great· tenacity. We do not think that any
different ·principle will apply to the case of conversion to Hinduism · .,
of a person whose fore-fathers had abandoned Hinduism and em- G
braced another religion·from the principle applicable to the case ~f
reconversion to Hinduism of a person' who himself had abandoned
Hinduism and embraced another religion, . ..

Now; what are the facts of the present case ?. The birth extract
of the first respondent, Devarajan shows that his parents as Hindu
H
Adi Dravidas. Through out his education.al. career, he was treated
as a Hindu student belonging to the Scheduled Castes and was
982 SUPREM~ COURT REPORTS (191!4] 1 s.c .. k.
awarded scholarships on t~at basis. The school records relating to
A . his ehildren also sliow them as Hindu Adi Dravidas.. On one occas, ·
sion in the admission register of a r.chool, he was wrongly shown as
Adi Dravida Christian, but it was corrected as Adi Dravida as far
back as in 1948. He' never attended a church. On the other hand,
there is acceptable evidence to show that he was offering worship to
Hind11 deities in Hindu temples and that his marriage was performed
B according to Hindu custom and rites. Our attention was however,
drawn to the finding of the Tribunal that the sisters of the first res-
pondent professed Christianity as revealed by their service registers;
Our attention was furthsr invited to certain evidence indicating that
the parents of.the.first respondent had become Christians and that
c the first respondent himself had been baptised when he was seven
months old. Even assuming that the parents and · sisters of the first
respondent had become Christians and that the.first respondent him-
self had been baptised when he was seven months old, we see no diffi-
culty in holding, on the evidence in. the case, that the first respon-
dent had long since reverted to Hinduism and to the Adi Dravida
D caste. There is not a scrap of acceptable evidence · to · show that he
ever professed Christianity after he came of age. On the other band:
every bit of evidence in the case ·shows that from his c!illdbood, he
was always practising Hindism and was treated by eyeryone con-
cern.ed as an Adi Dravidh. The;e is then the outstanding circums·
E tance that the voters of the Rasipuram Parliamentary Constituency.
reserved for the. Scheduled Castes accepted his candidature for the
reserved seat and elected him to the Lok Sablla twice. ",Ve have no
doubt whatsoever that at all relevant times, he was a. Hindu Adi
Dravida and professed no religion other than Hinduism. The case.
was rightly decided by the Election Tribunal and the appeal is
F accordingly dismissed with costs.

H.S.K. Appeal dismissed..