Christianity has no caste, Dalit converts cannot invoke SC/ST Act: Andhra Pradesh High Court

The Andhra Pradesh High Court recently held that the caste system is alien to Christianity and once a person converts to that religion, they cannot invoke the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act (SC/ST Act) [Akkala Ram Reddy v The State of Andhra Pradesh]. .Justice Harinath N held that once a person converts to Christianity, he stops being a member of the scheduled caste communitie.“Only a person belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe can invoke the provisions of SC, ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act... The 2nd respondent had voluntarily converted to Christianity and was admittedly working as a Pastor in a Church for the last 10 years as on the date of the incident. Thus, the 2nd respondent cannot be permitted to invoke the provisions of the protective legislation,” the Court said in its judgment of April 30.Pertinently, the Bench said that the SC/ST Act protection will not be available to a person holding the scheduled caste certificate if they have converted to Christianity. “Mere non-cancellation of the caste certificate by the authority to a person who has converted into Christianity cannot instill the protection granted under the Protective Legislation. The 2nd respondent has ceased to be a Member of the Scheduled Caste Community, the day he had converted to Christianity.”.The observations were made by the Court while quashing the proceedings under the SC/ST Act against a group of people for allegedly using casteist language and assaulting a man. It was stated that the man converted to Christianity more than a decade ago and has been working as a pastor for several years. The police registered the case under Sections of the SC/ST Act and provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). However, the accused argued that since complainant-pastor is a Christian, the registration of the case under the SC/ST Act was bad in law. .After considering the case, the Court agreed with the argument and further held that even the IPC offences are not substantiated. “This Court is of the considered view that a false complaint is filed and no purpose would be served if the petitioners are relegated to the trial Court and to undergo the rigmarole of trial,” the Bench held. .Advocate JV Phaniduth appeared for the petitioners who sought quashing of the case. Advocate Satheesh Kumar Eerla appeared for the complainant-pastor. State was represented through Public Prosecutor. .[Read Judgement]