GOKA RAMALINGAM versus BODDU ABRAHAM & ANR.

Citation: [1969] 2 S.C.R. 992 · Decided: 27-11-1968 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: M. HIDAYATULLAH · Disposal: Dismissed

Cited by 1 judgment(s) · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

GOKA RAMALINGAM 
v. 
BODDU ABRAHAM & ANR. 
November 27, 1968 
(M. HIDAYATULLAH, C.J. AND G. K. MITTER, J.] 
Practice-Election petition-Election to reserved seat from scheduled 
caste constituency-Election challenged on the ground that successful candi. 
date was converted to Christianity-Petition dismissed-Plea that parents 
of successful candidate were converts sought to be raised in Supreme 
Court-Belated plea, if should be allowed. 
Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 cl. (3)--SCope of. 
A 
B 
c 
The appellant and respondents were contestants for a reserved seat 
ftom 'a scheduled caste c0nstituency for election to the State Legislative 
Assembly, and the first respondent was elected. 
The election was chal-
lenged by the appellant on the ground that the respondent was not a 
member of scheduled caste because, he embraced Christianity and pro-
fessed the Christian religion, 'and therefore, was not eligible to stand for 
election for the reserved seat. 
During the trial, the High Court sum-
moned a Register, containing the names of all converted Christians of 
D 
the locality, which was, maintained by the local church. There was no 
entry showing that the first respondent was converted to Christianity. 
On the issue whether the first respondent was converted to Christianity, 
the High Court, on a consideration of the entire evidence held that there 
were no proof . of such conversion and dismissed the petition. 
In appeal' to this Court, a petition was filed alleging that the Register 
contained entries showing that the parents of the first respondent were 
E 
converted to Christianity and it was prayed that the case should pro-
ceed on the plea of conversion to Christianity of the parents of the first 
respondent, in place of the original plea that the first respondent himself 
was so converted. 
HELD : The prayer in the petition could not be granted because : (a) 
The plea changed the entire nature of the case and required fresh evidenc~; 
(b) it was belated and beyond the period of limitation prescribed for filing 
F 
of election petitions; and (c) the application should have been filed in 
the High Court itself, for, the Register was produced in the High Court and 
it was inspected by the parties who had thus ample opportunity to discover 
the basis for the new plea. [995 D-F] 
Under cl. (3) of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, it 
would have been sufficient if the appellant pleaded and proved that the 
first respondent was a Christian that therefore he was not a Hindu and 
G 
was not competent to stand for the reserved seat; but he chose to establish 
that the first respondent was himself converted to Christianity and failed 
to do so. [996 B-C] 
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : 
Civil Appeal No. 61 of 
1968. 
Appeal under s. 116-A of the Representation of the People 
H 
Act 1951 from the judgment and order dated August 21, 1967 
of tbe Andhra Pradesh High Coun in Election Petition No. 3 of 
1967. 
' 
. ' 
J 
, 
• 
' .. 
A 
B 
c 
D 
E 
F 
G 
H 
RAMALINGAM v. ABRAHAM (Hidayatullah, C.J.) 
993 
P. Ram Reddy and A. V. V. Nair, for the appellant. 
R. K. Garg, D. P. Singh, S. C. Agarwal and Asif Ansari, for 
respond.ent No. 1. 
Tue Judgment of the Court was delivered by 
Hidayatullah, C.J. This appeal arises from the decision of the 
Andhra Pradesh High Court dated August 21, 1967 by which an 
election petition filed by the present appellant Goka Ramalingam 
to question the election of the answering respondent Boddu Abra-
ham was dismissed. Tue matter concerns the Cheriyal (Scheduled 
Caste) constituency in the election to the Andhra Pradesh Legis-
lative Assembly held in February, 1967. Three candidates had 
offered themselves .for electioo. 
Two of them we have already 
named, the third is one Devadanam. The answering respond.ent 
obtained 15000 and odd, the appellant-election petitioner 12000 
and odd and Devadanam 7000 and odd votes. The election peti-
tion was based only on one issue, namely, that the respondents 
who had stood for a scheduled caste Reserved seat had "converted 
themselves into Christianity long time back and they continue to 
profess the said religion Christianity even today." Under the Con-
stitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, it is provided as fol-
lows: 
"(2) Subject to the provisions of this Order, the castes, 
races or tribes or parts of, or groups within, castes or 
tribes, specified in Parts I to XIII of the Schedule to this 
Order shall, in relation to the St

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