Supreme Court Stays Madras HC Order Which Disqualified Woman From SC-Reserved Post For Following Christianity

The Supreme Court today stayed a Madras High Court order which upheld the disqualification of a Panchayat's woman-Chairman from holding a reserved post observing that she had embraced Christianity.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Prashant Kumar Mishra passed the order, while issuing notice on a petition challenging the High Court decision.

A Single Bench of the High Court dealt with the respondent's plea to disqualify the petitioner, who was elected to the Theroor Town Panchayat, Kanyakumari on a post reserved for Scheduled Caste (General) category. The respondent submitted that the petitioner was born in the SC category but lost that status on account of professing Christianity. Therefore, she could not claim the benefits of reservation.

Opposing the prayer, the petitioner argued that she had not abandoned her original faith and she continued to be a Hindu. She further submitted that she was not professing Christianity and had not misused her community certificate as alleged by the respondent.

Looking at the marriage register, the Single Bench of the High Court noted that the number of banns, a procedure followed with respect to solemnization of marriage between baptized Christians, was published thrice. The same revealed that the petitioner was duly baptized and was admitted to the church at the time of marriage. The bench held that even if the petitioner was never baptized, she could be considered only as a Christian.

It further remarked that the case was a “shameful field reality” of the manner in which the election officers were reduced to sheer pawns by the ruling party during local body elections, reducing the vision of the noble Panchayat Raj to a mockery. The bench added that conferring SC status on the petitioner, who was a Christian by religion, was nothing but fraud on the Constitution.

The Single Bench further opined that when a person voluntarily submits himself/herself for conducting marriage under the Indian Christian Marriage Act, they would be considered Christian thereafter and their native religion is renounced automatically.

Thus, it allowed the respondent's plea and directed the authorities to declare the petitioner as disqualified from the post of Theroor Town Panchayat. In appeal by the petitioner, the Single Bench's order was upheld.

"It is open to the appellant to embrace Christianity and profess the said religion. Article 25 of the Constitution guarantees such a fundamental right. But problem arises when post-baptism, the individual hides the new identity and for the purpose of enjoying the rights conferred by the Constitution pretends as if the erstwhile status continues", the Division Bench observed.

"The stand of the appellant is not that she reconverted to Hinduism. Her specific case is that she never embraced Christianity. Her claim stands belied by the production of baptism certificate by the learned Additional Advocate General in the open court", it further noted.

 Aggrieved, the petitioner approached the Supreme Court.

Case Title: V AMUTHA RANI Versus V IYYAPPAN AND ORS., SLP(C) No. 26877/2025 

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