# [1976] 3 S.C.R. 1046

- **Citation:** [1976] 3 S.C.R. 1046
- **Court:** Supreme Court of India
- **Decided:** 1976-04-06
- **Case number:** Civil Appeal No. 984 of 1975
- **Bench:** A. N. Ray, P. N. Bhagwati, A. C. Gupta, S. Murtaza Fazal Ali, Jaswant Singh
- **Source:** https://unisonlegal.in/judgment/supreme-court-of-india/1976-3-s-c-r-1046-6725
- **Pages:** 6

## Headnote

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

## Text

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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 rcquircn1~nt 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
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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
+
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<;UNTUR MEDICAL COLLEGE v. Y. MOHAN RAO (Bhagwati, !.) 1049
this Court dealing with the question as to whether a convert or reA
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.
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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."
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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
..
d~med to ?c a n~e~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.
Tl~is interprcJation was plainly erroneous because what Note (b) reqmred was not that a cansidatc should be a Hindu by birth but that
H
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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 converC
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.
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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.
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