SC Stays Kerala HC Order Quashing Election Of CPI(M) MLA Raja

The Supreme Court recently stayed the Kerala High Court order that declared CPI(M) MLA A. Raja’s election to the Devikulam reserved constituency as void.

The CPI (M) MLA had moved the Supreme Court to challenge the High Court’s order declaring his election to the assembly as null and void.

While granting temporary relief to A. Raja, the Court imposed the condition that he could not vote on any motion in the Legislative Assembly or receive any allowances or monetary benefits normally given to MLAs.

A bench of Justice Aniruddha Bose and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia imposed the following conditions on Raja:

(i) The appellant shall have the right to participate in Legislative Assembly proceedings; (ii) The appellant shall not have the right to vote on any motion in the Legislative Assembly. He shall also be barred from voting in any other capacity as a member of the Legislative Assembly.

(iii) The appellant shall not be entitled to any allowance or monetary benefits in any other form permissible to a Legislative Assembly Member.

On March 20, 2023, the Kerala High Court annulled the CPM MLA’s election, stating that he is not a member of ‘Hindu Parayan’ and thus not qualified to be elected to the Devikulam Assembly constituency, which had been reserved for Hindus of the Scheduled Caste.

The order was passed in response to an election petition filed by D. Kumar in 2020, which challenged Raja’s election on the grounds that the constituency was reserved for Scheduled Caste among Hindus, and the latter was not a person belonging to that said caste, but was a Christian, thus violating Section 5 of the Representation of Peoples Act, 1951.

When it was admitted that Raja’s parents had migrated from Tamil Nadu, the High Court considered whether he could claim the benefit of Scheduled Caste in relation to the State of Kerala. According to Section 5 of the Act of 1951, in order to contest or fill a seat in the Legislative Assembly reserved for the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe, a person must be a member of any of the Scheduled Caste or Tribe in that State, as well as an elector for any Assembly Constituency, as the court noted.

Contrary to Raja’s claim that his grandparents were residents of Kerala on the date of the Order’s commencement in 1950, the High Court found that the documents on file did not show an actual migration of Raja’s grandparents to Kerala with all intent prior to the Order’s commencement.

The Court also reviewed the Family Register, Baptism Register, and Burial Register kept by the CSI Church in Kundala, Kerala, and noted that there had been overwritings, corrections, and erasures of previous entries. It also noticed that Raja’s wedding photos resembled those of a Christian wedding.