The Kerala High Court recently quashed the election of Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidate A Raja from Devikulam constituency in the 2021 State assembly election as null and void.
Justice P Somarajan was hearing an election petition filed by Congress candidate D Kumar challenging Raja’s election on the ground that the Constituency seat filled by him was reserved for SC among Hindus within the State of Kerala.
The bench ruled that Devikulam was a seat reserved for scheduled caste (SC) community and since Raja was professing Christianity at the time of his nomination, he could not have contested for the seat reserved for SC community.
Appearing for the petitioner, Advocate Narendra Kumar and Advocate MJ Sajitha contended that since Raja was a Christian, he violated the Representation of the People Act by occupying the seat reserved for Hindus.
They further pointed out that, despite Kumar raising this issue before the returning officer, it was rejected without explanation, allowing Raja to win the race by a margin of 7,848 votes.
In response,Raja’s counsel stated that he belonged to the Hindu Parayan community, which is a scheduled caste in Tamil Nadu, and that he would be qualified for scheduled caste reservation in Kerala because his forefathers had migrated to Kerala and were Hindus before 1950. It was also informed that his parents never converted to Christianity and that he was never baptized.
However, after reviewing various documents such as Raja’s wedding photographs, CSI Church’s family register, baptism registers, and so on, the bench concluded that Raja was actually professing Christianity at the time he submitted his nomination and had converted to Christianity long before its submission.
As a result, the bench granted the Election Petition and ruled Raja’s 2021 election null and void.
