Caste System Alien To Christianity, Protection Of SC&ST Act Cannot Be Extended To Converts: Andhra Pradesh High Court

In a significant ruling, the Andhra Pradesh High Court, on 30.04.2025, held that the caste system is alien to Christianity and an individual, who converted to Christianity and actively professes and practices the same, cannot continue to be a member of the Scheduled Caste community and is consequently barred from invoking the provisions of the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.“The caste system is alien to Christianity. Having converted to Christianity and admitting his role as a Pastor in a Church the 2nd respondent could not invoke the provisions of the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,” the Court said.Quashing charges filed by a complainant who had converted to Christianity and had invoked the SC & ST Act, a Single Judge Bench of Justice Harinath N. further held,“The SC ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act is a protective legislation introduced for preventing atrocities against members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. In the present case, the 2nd respondent has misused the Protective Legislation though he is not entitled to invoke the provisions of the Act. The 2nd respondent had voluntarily converted to Christianity and was admittedly working as a Pastor in a Church for the last 10 years as on the date of incident. Thus, the 2nd respondent cannot be permitted to invoke the provisions of the Protective Legislation.”While the complainant had contended that despite conversion, he still possessed the Scheduled Caste Certificate, the Court held that “mere non-cancellation of the caste certificate by the authority to a person who has converted into Christianity cannot instill the protection granted under the Protective Legislation. The 2nd respondent has ceased to be a Member of the Scheduled Caste Community, the day he had converted into Christianity.”Facts:The ruling stemmed from a Criminal Petition where the petitioner was accused of offences punishable under Sections 3(1)(r), 3(1)(s), 3(2)(va) of the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, (SC&ST Act) and Sections 341, 506, 323 read with 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).It was stated in the initial complaint filed by Respondent 2 (complainant), who was a Pastor conducting Sunday Prayers in Pittalavanipalem Village, that he was subjected to multiple assaults from the petitioner and had received repeated life threats for himself and his family and was also abused in the name of caste. In lieu of this, he had registered a case against the petitioner. The investigation was complete and the charge sheet was also filed. Aggrieved by this, the petitioner approached the High Court for quashing of charges against him.It was the case of the petitioner that the registration of the FIR under the SC&ST Act was bad in law as the complainant had converted to Christianity and was working as a Pastor and thus, he could not claim to be a member of the Scheduled Caste community. The petitioner reasoned that the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, categorically made it clear that no person who professes a religion different from Hinduism shall be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste.On the contrary, the respondents argued that the investigation was complete and the chargesheet was filed alongwith the witness statements of as many as 10 witnesses. With respect to the application of the SC&ST Act, it was argued that Respondent 2 cannot be denied protection under the SC&ST Act as the Tahsildar of Pittalavanipalem Mandal (witness 12) had confirmed that the respondent 2 was a member of the SC community belonging to Hindu-Madiga by Caste. It was also submitted that the respondent possessed a caste certificate which was issued by Tahsildar of Pittalavanipalem Mandal (witness 12).Courts Findings:The fundamental question before the Court was whether a Pastor can claim to be a member of the Scheduled Caste community after his conversion to Christianity. In relation to this, the Court held that Section 3 of the SC&ST Act made it crystal clear that only a person belonging to the SC & ST community can invoke the provisions of the Act. Thus, the respondent, who had converted to Christianity and was actively professing the same for roughly 10 years, was not entitled to protection of the SC&ST Act.With respect to the argument that Respondent 2 continues to hold a Scheduled Caste Certificate, the Court held that the same was a matter to be dealt under Section 5 of the Andhra Pradesh (Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes) Regulation of Issue of Community Certificates Act, 1993, by the appropriate authority under the Act. However, the Court added that mere non-cancellation of caste certificate does not entitle Respondent 2 to be protected by the SC & ST Act after conversion.Regarding the veracity of the allegations levelled against the petitioner, the Court noted,“In so far as the allegations of commission of offences under Sections 341, 506 and 323 read with 34 of IPC ...

Caste System Alien To Christianity, Protection Of SC&ST Act Cannot Be Extended To Converts: Andhra Pradesh High Court

Saahas Arora

Tags