Holding

Conversion does not per se terminate Scheduled Tribe status; tribal membership must be determined on the facts, considering continued social disability and adherence to tribal customs.

Summary

The State of Kerala appealed a Kerala High Court order that quashed charges under Sections 3(i) and 3(xi) of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, on the ground that the victim’s family had converted to Christianity two centuries earlier and therefore ceased to be members of a Scheduled Tribe. The Supreme Court held that conversion to another religion does not automatically terminate Scheduled Tribe status; whether a person remains a member of a tribe depends on factual circumstances such as continued social disability and adherence to tribal customs. The Court emphasized that tribal membership is a question of fact to be decided by the trial court, not a matter of law. Consequently, the High Court’s order quashing the charges was set aside and the matter remitted to the Sessions Court for trial. The appeal was allowed.

Issues considered

Whether conversion to another religion automatically disqualifies a person from being a member of a Scheduled Tribe for purposes of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
Whether the question of tribal membership is a question of law or fact.
Whether the High Court erred in quashing the charges under Sections 3(i) and 3(xi) of the Act on the basis of the victim’s family’s conversion.

Legislation cited

Code of Criminal Procedures. 482
Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950
Indian Penal Code, 1860s. 509
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989s. 3(i), s. 3(xi)

Subjects

Scheduled TribeConversionSC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) ActTribal membershipSocial disabilityCriminal lawCaste and tribe law

Judgment

'\

. STATE OF KERALA AND ANR . A
V.
CHANDRAMOHANAN

JANUARY 28, 2004

[V.N. KHARE, CJ., S.13. SINHA AND S.H. KAPADIA, JJ.] B

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,
1989:

Ss.3(i) and (xi)-Scheduled Tribe-Effect ofconversion-Offence alleged c
lo have been committed against a girl of Scheduled Tribe- Plea of accused
that since family of !he viclim had been converted aboul 200 years back,
provisions of the Act are no/ auracted-Held, Although as a broad proposition
of law it cannot be accepled that merely by change of religion person ceases
to be a member of Scheduled Tribe bu/ the question as to whether he ceases
D
to be a 111e111ber thereof or not must be deter111ined by 1he appropriale court
as such a question would depend upon the Jae/ of each case-In such a
situalion, it has to be es/ab!ished !hat a person who has embraced another
religion is slill suffering from social disability and also following the customs
and tradition of the com1111111ily, which he earlier belonged to--Before a person
can be brought within the purview of the Constitulion(Scheduled Tribes) Order, E
I 9j0, he must belong to a Tribe-A person for the purpose of obtaining /he
benefits of !he Presidential Order must fulfill the condition of being a member
of a Tribe and continue to be so--lf by reason of conversion /0 a different
religion a long time back, he/his ancestors have not been following the customs,
rituals and olher traits, which are required to be followed by the me111bers of
F
-~ « the Tribe and even had not been following the customary laws of succession,
inheritance, 111arriage etc., he may not be accepted to be a member of the
Tribe-In the instant case, it has been con/ended !hat the family of the victim
had been converted about 200 years' back and in fact /he father of the victim
married a woman belonging to a Roman Catholic, wherefrom he again became
a Roman Catholic-The question, as to whether the family conlinued to be G
Scheduled Tribe or not can be gone into only during trial-Case remilled lo
the Court ofSession-[:onstillltion of India, 19j0-Articles 341and342-The
Constilution(Schedu/ed Tribes) Order, 19j0.

Nityanand Sharma and Anr. v. State of Bihar and Ors., (199613 SCC
1155 H
~' I

I 156 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2004) I S.C.R.

A 576; Punit Roi v. Dinesh Choudhary, (2003( 8 sec 204; N.E. Horo v. Smt.
Johan Ara Jaipal Singh, AIR (1972) SC 1840; CM Arumugam v. S. Raigopal I
and Ors., (197611 SCC 863; Union ofIndia v. Naveen Jindal and Anr., (2004)
1SCALE677 and Kartik Oraon v. David Munzni and Anr., AIR (1964) Patna
201, referred to.

B "The Customary laws of the Munda & the Oraon, ' by Dr. Jai Prakash
Gupta; 'Tribal India, A Profile in Indian Ethnology, by K.L. Bhowmik; "Caste
and the law in India", S.B. Wad at p.30; 'Oraon Religion & Customs' by Sarai
Chandra Roy and Encyclopaedia Britannica, Volume 22, 1961 by W.H.R.
Rivers, referred to.
c CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Criminal Appeal No.
240 of 1997.

From the Judgment and Order dated 19.3.96 of the Kerala High Court
in Crl.M.C.No. 516 of 1994.
D Ramesh Babu M.R. for the Appellants.

Rajiv Sakdhar, Ms. Prashanthi Prasad, K.T.S. Lekha and Manoj Prasad
for the Respondent.

Mathai Paikadey, Siby Sebastian and M.T. George for Intervenor.
E
The following Order of the Court was delivered

One Ramachandran, who was the President of the Pattambi Congress
Mandlam. lodged a complaint against the respondent alleging that on 24th
October, 1992, the respondent at 3.30 p.m. took one eight year old girl
F named Elizabeth P. Kora to the class room in the Patambi Government U.P.
School, with an intent to dishonour and outrage her modesty. On I !st
November, 1992, the said complaint was treated as a First Information Report
under Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code. Subsequently on 21st November,
1992, the Investigating officer came to know that. the father of the victim
G belonged to the Mala Aryan Community, which is considered to be Scheduled
Tribe in the State of Kerala and lodged another First Information Report,
charging the respondent under Section 3(i)(xi) of the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrcoities) Act, 1989 (hereinafter referred to "
as 'the Act'). On the basis of the said First Information Reports, the Chief
Judicial Magistrate summoned the respondent taking cognizance against him
H under Section 3( I )(xi) of the Act as well as under Section 509 of the Indian
STATE OF KERALA v. CHANDRAMOl-IANAN 1157
i Penal Code. Aggrieved, the respondent filed a petition under Section 482 of A
the Code of Criminal Procedure, for quashing the charges framed under
Section 3(1)(xi) of the Act. The High Court was of the view that since the
victim's parents have embraced Christianity, therefore, the victim ceased to
be a member of the Scheduled Tribe. On this premise, the High Court quashed
the charges framed against the respondent under Section 3( 1)(xi) of the Act. B
It is against the said judgment, the State of, Kerala has preferred this appeal
by way of special leave petition.

:.,. When the matter came up before a Bench of two learned Judges, they
were of the view that this matter should be heard by a larger Bench. It is by
this way, the matter has came up before us.
c
The question which has been raised at the Bar is not free from doubt.
The Constitution provides for declaration of certain castes and tribes as
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in terms of Articles 341 and 342 of
the Constitution of India. Article 342 reads as under:
D
"342. Scheduled Tribes:-( I) The President may with respect to
any State of Union Territory, and where it is a State, after consultation
with the Governor thereof, by public notification, specify the tribes
or tribal communities or parts or groups within tribes or tribal
communities which shall for the purposes of this Constitution be
deemed to be Scheduled Tribes in relation to that State or Union E
territory, as the case may be.

(2) Parliament may by law include in or exclude from the list of
Sd1cduled Tribes specified in a notification issued under clause (I)
any tribe or tribal community or part of or group within any tribe or
tribal community, but save as aforesaid a notification issued under F
the said clause shall not be varied by any subsequent notification."

The object of the said provision is to provide right for the purpose of
grant of protection to the Scheduled Tribes having regard to the economic
and educatio11ally backwardness wherefrom they suffer. For the aforementioned
purpose only the President of India has been authorised to issue the notification G
to parts or groups within the Tribes. It is not in dispute that the Constitution
(Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 made in terms of the aforementioned
provisions is exhaustive. The question which is required to be posed at the
outset is what is the Tribes.
H
1158 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2004] I S.C.R.

A "Tribe has been defined as a social group of a simple kind, the
members of which speak common dilect, have a single government
and act together for such common purposes as warfare. Other typical
characteristics include a common name, a contiguous territory, a
relatively unifonn culture or way of life and a tradition of common
descent. Tribes are usually composed· of a number of local communities
B e.g. bands, villages or neighbourhoods and are often aggregated in
clusters of a higher order called nations. The term is seldom applied
to societies that have achieved a strictly territorial organisation in
large states but is usually confined to groups whose unity is based
primarily upon a sense of extended kinship ties it is no longer used
C for Kin groups in the strict sense, such as clans."

(See the Customary Laws of the Munda & the Oraon, by Dr. Jai
Prakash Gupta.)

'Tribe in the Dictionary of Anthropology is defined as a social
group, usually with a definite area, dialect, cultural homogeneity, and
D
unifying social organization. It may include several subgroups, such
as sibs or villages. A tribe ordinarily has a leader and may have a
common ancestor, as well as patron deity. The families or small
communities making up the tribe are linked through economic, social,
religious, family, or blood ties."
E
(See Tribal India A profile in Indian Ethnology by K.L. Bhowmik.)

The question as to whether a person is a member of the Tribe or has
been accepted as such, despite his conversion to another religion, is essentially
a question of fact. A member of a Tribe despite his change in the religion
F may remain a member of the Tribe if he continues to follow the tribal traits
and customs.

In Nityanand Sharma and Anr. v. State of Bihar and Ors., (1996] 3
SCC 576, a three Judge Bench of this Court while considering the question
as to whether Lohars, who are blacksmiths in the State of Bihar and Lohras,
G who are members of the Scheduled Tribes are same or not, held:
"Despite the cultural advancement, the genetic traits pass on from
generation to generation and no one could escape or forget or get
them over. The tribal customs are peculiar to each tribe or tribal
communities and are still being maintained and preserved. Their
H cultural advancement to some extent may have modernised and
STA TE OF KERALA v. CHANDRAMOHANAN I I 59
progressed but they would not be oblivious or ignorant of their A
customary and cultural past to establish their affinity to the membership
of a particular tribe. The tribe or tribal communities, parts of or
groups thereof have their peculiar traits."

As regards Scheduled Castes, this Court in the case of Punit Rai v.
Dinesh Chaudhary, (2003] 8 sec 204, held as follows: B
"30. In Caste and the Law in India by Justice S.B. Wad at p.30 under
the heading "Sociological Implications" it is stated:

'Traditionally, a person belongs to a caste in which he is born.
The caste of the parents determines his caste but in case of C
reconversion a person has the liberty to renounce his casteless
status and voluntarily accept his original caste. His caste status at
birth is not immutable. Change of religion does not necessarily
mean loss of caste. If the original caste does not positively
disapprove, the acceptance of the caste can be presumed. Such
acceptance can also be presumed if he is elected by a majority to D
a reserved seat. Although it appears that some dent is made in the
classical concept of caste, it may be noticed that the principle that
caste is created by birth is not dethroned. There is also a judicial
recognition of caste autonomy including the right to outcaste a
person." E
31. lfhe is considered to be a member of the Scheduled Caste, he has
to be accepted by the community. (See C.M. Arumugam v. S.
Rajagopal, [ 1976] 1 SCC 863 and Principal, Guntur Medical College
v. Y. Mohan Rao, [ 1976] 3 SCC 411 ).

32. A Christian by birth when converted to Hinduism and married a F
member of the Scheduled Caste was held to be belonging to her
husband's caste on the evidence that she had not only been accepted
but also welcomed by the important members, including the President
and Vice-President of the community (See Kai/ash Sankar v. Maya
Devi, (1984] 2 sec 91)." G
In NE. Haro v. Smt. Jahan Ara Jaipal Singh, AIR(l 972) SC 1840, a
question arose as to whether a Ceylonese lady marrying a member of the
Scheduled Tribe would become a member of that Tribe by marriage or not.
This Court held that only by reason of marriage a woman does not beccme
a member of the Tribe, but only in the event, she is accepted as such by the H
1160 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2004) I S.C.R.

A other members of the tribe and approved by the Panchayat, she may be ""
considered to be a member thereof.

In the aforementioned judgment it has been noticed that the Mundas
are endogamus and inter-marriage with non-Mundas is normally prohibited.
In such an event, a member of the tribe may also be ex-communicated.
B
In Oraon Religion & Customs by Sarat Chandra Roy, it is stated:

"Oraon religion, like similar other religions, is primarily concerned
with ancestral and certain other disembodied souls, and Nature spirits
and deities. The rites employed to establish harmonious relations with
C them are mainly, supplications and prayers, offerings and sacrifices,
and the ceremonial, sharing of sacrificial food besides certain special
observances and to boos."

Even if the members of the tribe belong to different religion, the rites
conducted during marriage may be different but in other respects namely
D inheritance, succession, etc., they may be following the same traits. (See
Tribal Life of North-Eastern India by S.T. Das) .

.In this case the matter. may be considered from another angle. According
to the.respondents, the victim's family were converted to Christianity two
E centuries back. The mother of the victim belongs to Roman Catholic. Under
the Customs of Roman Catholic, Catholic women can marry only a Catholic
wherefor it is also necessary for the groom to convert himself as a Roman
Catholic and such conversion has taken place and the father of the victim is
now a member of the Roman Catholic. It has been alleged that the family of
the victim has ceased to be members of the notified Tribe.
F
The Customary Laws of a Tribe not only govern his culture, but also
succession, inheritance, marriage, worship of Gods, etc. The characteristics
of different tribes despite the fact that they have been living in the same area
for a long time are different. They indisputably follow different Gods. They
have different cultures. Their customs are also different.
G
The learned counsel appearing on behalf of the appellant would submit
that by reason of conversion, a tribe does not cease to be tribe. According to
learned counsel whereas in relation to the scheduled castes notified under the
Constitution (Scheduled Cast) [(Union Territories)) Order, 1951 to show that
H no person who professes a religion different from the Hindu, the Sikh or the
STATE OF KERALA v. CHANDRAMOHANAN 116 J

Buddhist would be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste, no such A ..
provision is contained in the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950.
This submission in our opinion cannot be accepted.

Learned counsel in this behalf has drawn our attention to the case of
Kartik Oraon v. David Mun::.ni and Anr., reported in AIR (1964) Patna 201
and C.M. Arumugam v. S. Rajgopal and Ors., [1976] I SCC 863. In Kartik B
Oraon supra referring to Encyclopaedia Britannica, Volume 22, 1961 edition,
at page 465, by W.H.R. Rivers as a "a social group of a simple kind, the
members of which speak a common dialect, have a single government, and
act together for· such common purposes as "warfare." Other typical
characteristics include a common name, a contiguous territory, a relatively C
uniform culture or way of life and a tradition of common descent. It has been
noticed that the term is seldom applied to societies that have achieved a
strictly territorial organisation in large states but is usually confined to groups
whose unity is based primarily upon a sense of extended kinship ties.

Before a person can be brought within the purview of the Constitution D
(Scheduled Tribes) order, 1950, he must belong to a Tribes. A person for the
purpose of obtaining the benefits of the Presidential Order must fulfill the
condition of being a member of a Tribe and continue to be a member of the
Tribe. If by reason of conversion to a different religion a long time back, he/
his ancestors have not been following the customs, rituals and other ·traits,
which are required to be followed by the members of the Tribe and e.ven had E
not been following the Customary Laws of Succession, Inheritance, Marriage
etc., he may not be accepted to be a member of a Tribe. In this case, it has
been contended that the family of the victim had been converted about 200
years' back and in fact the father of the victim married a woman belonging
to a Roman Catholic, wherefrom he again became a Roman Catholic. The F
question, therefore, which may have to be gone into is as to whether the
family continued to be a member of a Scheduled Tribe or not such a question
can be gone into only during trial.

In C. M. Arumugam (supra), this Court held as under:
G
"I O....... A caste is more a social combination than a religious
group. But since, as pointed out by Rajamannar, C.J. in G. Michael
v. S. Venkateswaran, ethics provides the standard for social life and
it is founded ultimately on religious beliefs and doctrines, religion is
inevitably mixed up with social conduct and that is why caste has
become an integral feature of Hindu society. But from that it does not H
1162 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2004) I S.C.R.

A necessarily follow as an invariable rule that whenever a person
renounces Hinduism and embraces another religious faith, he
automatically ceases to be a member of the caste in which he was
born and to which he belonged prior to his conversion. It is no doubt
true, and there we agree with the Madras High Court in G. Michael's
case (supra) that the general rule is that conversion operates as an
B expulsion from the caste, or, in other words, the convert ceases to
have any caste, because caste is predominantly a feature of Hindu
society and ordinarily a person who ceases to be a Hindu would not
be ·regarded by the other members of the caste as belonging to their
fold. But ultimately it must depend on the structure of the caste and
c its rules and regulations whether a person would cease to belong to
the caste on his abjuring Hinduism. If the structure of the caste is
such that its members must necessarily belong to Hindu religion, a
member, who ceases to be a Hindu, would go out of the caste, because
no non-Hindu can be in the caste according to its rules and regulations.
Where, on the other hand, having regard to its structure, as it has
.D evolved over the years, a caste may consist not only of persons
professing Hindu religion but also persons professing some other
religion as well, conversion from Hinduism to that other religion may
not involve loss of caste, because even persons professing such other
religion can be members of the caste. This might happen where caste
E is based on economic or occupational characteristics and not on
religious identity or the cohesion of the caste as a social group is so
strong that conversion into another religion does not operate to snap
the bond between the convert and the social group. This is indeed not
an infrequent phenomenon in South India where, in some of the
castes, even after conversion to Christianity, a person is regarded as
F continuing to belong to the caste. When an argument was advanced
before the Madras High Court in G. Michael's case that there were
several cases in which a member of oiie of the lower castes who has
been converted to Christianity has continued not only to consider
himself as still being member of the caste, but has also been considered
G so by other members of the caste who had not been converted.

Rajamannar C.J., who it can safely be presumed, was familiar
with the customs and practices prevalent in South India, accepted the
position "that instances can be found in which in spite of conversion
the caste distinctions might continue", though he treated them as
H exceptions to the general rule.
STATE Of KERALA v. CHANDRAMOHANAN 1163
11. The High Court of Andhra Pradesh· also affirmed in Kothapalli A
Narasavva v. Jammana Jogi, 30 ELR l 99 (AP) that
notwithstanding conversion, the converts whether an individual
or family or group of converts, may like to be governed by the
law by which they were governed before they became converts .....
and the community to which they originally belonged may also B
continue to accept them within their fold notwithstanding
conversion .....

The aforementioned decision is, thus, also an authority for the proposition
that upon conversion, a person may be governed by a different law than the
law governing the community to which he originally belonged but that would C
not mean that notwithstanding such conversion, he may not continue to be a
member of the Tribe.

Learned counsel for the appellant has drawn our attention to the circulars
issued by the State of Kerala with a view to show that the members of the
Tribes are being treated in the same capacity despite conversion. We arc D
afraid that such circulars being not law within the meaning of Article 13 of
the Constitution of India, would be of no assistance (See Punit Rai v. Dinesh
Chaudhary, [2003) 8 SCC 204 and Union of India v. Naveen Jindal and
Anr., (2004) I SCALE 677). •
'
We, therefore, are of the opinion that although as a broad proposition E
of law it cannot be accepted that merely by change of religion person ceases
to be a member of scheduled tribe, but the question as to whether he ceases
to be a member thereof or not must be determined by the appropriate cou1t
as such a question would depend upon the fact of each case. In such a
situation, it has to be established that a person who has embraced another F
religion is still suffering from social disability and also following the customs
and tradition of the community, which he earlier belonged to. Under such
circumstances, we set aside the order under appeal and remit the same to the
Sessions Court, Palakkad, to proceed in accordance with law.

The appeal, with the aforementioned observaiions is, accordingly, G
allowed. Since no one appears on behalf of the respondent, there shall be no
order as to costs.

R.P. Appeal allowed.