Friday, February 27, 2015

Supreme Court reestablished SC status of reconverted Hindu

Supreme court has given important decision on Gharwapasi of Kerala based man.
Read 2 news articles and SC judgement PDF below to understand the case.
Kerala’s Mr. K.P. Manu Case:

 “…The parents and grandparents of K.P. Manu, the appellant in this case, had also converted to Christianity. The 1960-born Manu converted to Hinduism sometime in 1984....The Kerala government employee was sacked and his Scheduled Caste certificate cancelled following a complaint that said Manu was a Christian who had re-converted to Hinduism only to get the reservation benefits despite the fact that he had married a Christian and his parents and grandparents were all Christians….”
“..K P Manu’s great grandfather belonged to a Hindu community, and his grandfather converted to Christianity. Manu’s parents also practiced Christianity. However, when he was 24, Manu “reconverted” to Hinduism and got a caste certificate from the Akhila Bharata Ayyappa Seva Sangham — an institution recognized by the state government for issuing caste certificates…”
“…He was employed in Malabar Cements, a state government undertaking. After his certificate was cancelled, the state administration ordered his removal from service and also sought to recover Rs 15 lakh paid as salary to him….”
“…The Kerala government employee was sacked and his Scheduled Caste certificate cancelled following a complaint that said Manu was a Christian who had re-converted to Hinduism only to get the reservation benefits despite the fact that he had married a Christian and his parents and grandparents were all Christians….”
 Takeaway from this judgement:
Scheduled Caste/Tribe persons in India belongs to Hindu religion
After Gharwapasi, person can get all benefits available to his Caste (if any)
After Gharwapasi, he/her belongs to his roots/community (need documented proof and scrutiny)
Issue has become more complex, some may misuse this for social benefits by faking ‘re-conversion’ ??
Where is "Aastha", Faith  or Belief involved here?? Seems Money and few Social Benefits are far more important to some individuals!
# PDF-Read Supreme Court’s full Judgment in this case
http://supremecourtofindia.nic.in/FileServer/2015-02-26_1424948955.pdf

UK/EU/US/west, with their Geopolitical Human Right agenda against India, are lobbying hard to get “Dalit” Converted Christians same caste based reservations in India after conversion....However, some Christians think tanks in west oppose this move as it might create problem for them too in long run; as other race/communities in already fragmented Christianity (read Synthetic Unity) will ask similar type of quota/benefits in other countries based on ethnicity/race/oppression history, etc!!
Overall, Reservation/benefits related issue, instead of fixing this post-independent mistake, has become more complex due to Conversion!

NEWS:
 1. Christian who reconverts as Hindu SC will get quota benefits: apex court
 February 27, 2015 | By Utkarsh Anand | New Delhi |
 http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/christian-who-reconverts-as-hindu-sc-will-get-quota-benefits-apex-court/2/
Amid the controversy over “ghar wapsi”, the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a person who “reconverts” from Christianity to Hinduism shall be entitled to reservation benefits if his forefathers belonged to a Scheduled Caste and the community accepts him after “reconversion”.
Citing articles by B R Ambedkar and James Massey, and reports by Mandal Commission and Chinappa Commission, the court said: “There has been detailed study to indicate the Scheduled Caste persons belonging to Hindu religion, who had embraced Christianity with some kind of hope or aspiration, have remained socially, educationally and economically backward.”
The bench of Justices Dipak Misra and V Gopala Gowda held that a person shall not be deprived of reservation benefits if he decides to “reconvert” to Hinduism and adopts the caste that his forefathers originally belonged to just because he was born to Christian parents or has a Christian spouse.
Expanding the scope of a previous Constitution bench judgment, the bench said the reservation benefits for the castes recognised under the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, could not be confined to only those whose parents had converted to Christianity. “If a person born to Christian parents, who had converted to Christianity from the Scheduled Caste Hindu, can avail the benefits of the caste certificate after embracing Hinduism, there cannot be any soundness of logic that he cannot avail similar benefits because his grandparents were converted and he was born to parents who were Christians,” it said.
The bench, however, said the person must fulfill three mandatory conditions to avail such benefits after “reconversion” — there must be clear proof that he belongs to a caste duly recognised as a Scheduled Caste, that he has “reconverted” to the original religion to which his parents or earlier generations belonged, and that he has been accepted by the community.
The bench further clarified that marriage to a Christian person would not entail disqualification. “As far as marriage is concerned, in our considered opinion, it should not have been considered as the central and seminal facet to deny the benefit. When the community has accepted and the community, despite the marriage, has not excommunicated or expelled, the same would not be a disqualification,” it said.
The court ruling came on an appeal filed by a person whose caste certificate was cancelled in 2006 by the scrutiny committee, set up under the Kerala (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Regulation of Issue of Community Certificates Act, on the ground that he was born to Christian parents and was not following the traditions of the community.
K P Manu’s great grandfather belonged to a Hindu community, and his grandfather converted to Christianity. Manu’s parents also practiced Christianity. However, when he was 24, Manu “reconverted” to Hinduism and got a caste certificate from the Akhila Bharata Ayyappa Seva Sangham — an institution recognised by the state government for issuing caste certificates.
He was employed in Malabar Cements, a state government undertaking. After his certificate was cancelled, the state administration ordered his removal from service and also sought to recover Rs 15 lakh paid as salary to him.
The bench, however, ruled in his favour, noting that he fulfilled all the three conditions required to avail the benefits. It ordered the state to reinstate Manu with all the benefits relating to his seniority and caste, and said he should be paid back wages up to 75 per cent within eight weeks.

2. Western version : SC quota cheer for re-converts
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150227/jsp/nation/story_5796.jsp#.VOY9OXyUdvw
New Delhi, Feb. 26: The Supreme Court today ruled that a Dalit or tribal Hindu who had embraced Christianity and then re-converted to Hinduism would be eligible for reservation benefits for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes if the re-conversion was genuine.
Justices Dipak Misra and V. Gopala Gowda also held that a person couldn't be deprived of such benefits on account of marriage merely because he had married a Christian after reconverting from Christianity.
The ruling, which set aside a March 2006 judgment of Kerala High Court, comes at a time when re-conversion (" ghar wapsi") programmes organised by Sangh parivar groups have kicked up a controversy.
Critics have often panned such re-conversions as just a ploy to access the benefits of government welfare schemes for the country's marginalised sections. But Justice Misra, who wrote the judgment for the bench, cited a 1990 report of a commission that looked into the condition of backward classes to make the point that nothing had changed for SC/ST converts to Christianity and their descendants.
Because of the "all-pervasive" caste system that has penetrated the barriers of religion also, the Chinappa Commission Report said, the SC/ST converts continue to be "victims of the same social injustice" Dalit and tribal Hindus face.
The court also referred to some survey reports to say that the social and economic condition of Dalits and tribal people had not improved much despite their conversion to either Christianity or Islam.
The judgment is also the first authoritative one regarding re-conversions since a Constitution bench of the top court cleared the air on such conversions nearly 40 years ago.
The bench today laid down three main parameters for deciding whether a person who had reconverted to Hinduism from another religion embraced earlier was eligible to get the government benefits Dalit and tribal Hindus are entitled to:
• First, there must be "absolutely clear-cut proof that he belongs to the caste that has been recognised by the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950";
 • Second, it has to be established that there has been "re-conversion to the original religion to which the (person's) parents and earlier generations had belonged"
 • And third, there has to be "evidence establishing the acceptance by the community".
The judgment cited the 1976 ruling of the Constitution bench in the Y. Mohan Rao case.
The 1976 judgment was about a person born to Scheduled Caste parents who had converted to Christianity. It ruled that the said person, on "re-conversion" to his parents' original religion and "on acceptance by his community", would be treated as a member of the said Scheduled Caste.
The parents and grandparents of K.P. Manu, the appellant in this case, had also converted to Christianity. The 1960-born Manu converted to Hinduism sometime in 1984.
The Kerala government employee was sacked and his Scheduled Caste certificate cancelled following a complaint that said Manu was a Christian who had re-converted to Hinduism only to get the reservation benefits despite the fact that he had married a Christian and his parents and grandparents were all Christians.
Kerala High Court had upheld the termination.
The apex court, while setting aside the high court judgment, directed the state to reinstate Manu with consequence.


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