The Madras High Court recently said that physical attributes including fair skin, tall height and curly hair, without any evaluation conducted by an anthropologist, could not be used to determine someone’s religion or community.
The committee had decided that the man did not belong to the Adi Dravidar community, which is a Scheduled Caste community, Live Law reported. The court made the observation while setting aside an order of the District Level Vigilance Committee – which had held that a community certificate held by a man was not genuine. The HC was hearing a petition filed by M Ravikumar, who had challenged the order deeming his certificate invalid. Ravikumar had, in his petition, stated that his father belonged to the Adi Dravidar community but had converted to Christianity.
However, Ravikumar said both his father and him had reconverted to Hinduism later. “While, whether the petitioner follows the Hindu gods or Christianity, will be relevant, the reasoning that the petitioner and his family members are very fair in colour, they are tall and having good physique and speak Tamil and English and have curly hair, may not have any relevance,” Live Law cited the HC as saying.
Ravikumar had, in his plea, argued that his father originally belonged to the Hindu Adi Dravidar community, but had converted to Christianity. Ravikumar stated that he had obtained a community certificate after reconversion and was working as Assistant Commissioner in Chennai General Commissionerate. Meanwhile, the authorities submitted that the petitioner and his family were only claiming to practice Hinduism to get employment and reservation status, but were actually professing Christianity.
Ravikumar was born when his father was a practicing Christian, according to Live Law. Ravikumar argued that his family was practicing Hinduism, while submitting that both his and his daughters’ marriages had been solemnised according to Hindu rites and customs. The defendants further argued that the petitioner’s father was buried in a Christian cemetery, and said that while the petitioner had claimed reconversion back to Hinduism, the community people had not accepted it.
However, right before his superannuation in May earlier this year, the authorities had initiated a verification of the genuineness of his community certificate, with the commissioner later conveying the finding that the certificate was not genuine.
