Re-conversion for seat: Collector's order upheld


By The Hindu

CHENNAI, NOV. 27. A District Collector's decision to revoke the Scheduled Caste status granted to a student who `re-converted' to Hinduism has been upheld by the Madras High Court.

Dismissing a petition from Mr. R. Prince, who assumed a new name, R. Ashok Kumar, in the wake of his `re-conversion', Mr. Justice P. Shanmugam accepted the Udhagamandalam Collector's view that the petitioner had embraced Hinduism again only to get a medical seat under the SC category.

Born on February 20, 1974, the petitioner remained a Christian until he appeared for the medical entrance examination after completing his higher secondary education. He obtained an SC certificate from a tahsildar on June 9, 1992.

However, on finding that hardly two months separated the petitioner's `re-conversion' and the issue of the community certificate, the Collector concluded that the student had done so only to get a medical seat reserved for the Hindu Adi Dravida community.

He also found that the certificate had been granted without any enquiry into whether the petitioner belonged to the Hindu Adi Dravida community or not.

The petitioner moved the High Court on the ground that the Collector had acted without jurisdiction, and sought to set aside his order.

Mr. Justice Shanmugam said Mr. Prince's contention that he had embraced Hinduism with a genuine intention of professing the religion ``is a hollow claim''. ``The proximity of the conversion and the issuance of the community certificate shows that it was made for the purpose of getting admission to the medical college'', he observed.

The judge held the tahsildar responsible for issuing an erroneous certificate without properly verifying the admitted facts. ``The Collector, as the head of the department in the district, is entitled to cancel it (community certificate)''.