PRINCIPAL, GUNTUR MEDICAL COLLEGE, GUNTUR versus Y. MOHAN RAO

Citation: [1976] 3 S.C.R. 1046 · Decided: 06-04-1976 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: A.N. RAY · Disposal: Dismissed

Cited by 3 judgment(s) · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

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PRINCIPAL, GUNTUR MEDICAL COLLEGE, GUNTUR 
v . 
. Y. MOHAN RAO 
April 6, 1976 
(A. N. RAY, C.J., P. N. BHAGWATI, A. C. GUPTA, S. MURTAZA FAZAL 
ALI AND JASWANT SINGH, JJ.) 
Constitution 'of India-Articles 15(4), 29(2), 341~ 366(24)-Constilutlon . 
(Scheduled Castes} Order 1950-Scheduled Caste-A Hindu belonging to a 
Scheduled Caste-Whether cea.ies to belong to Scheduled Caste on conversion 
to Chrfa'tianity-Dn reconversion whether he regains mentbership of Scheduled 
Caste·-Whether a verson must belong to Scheduled Caste by bir1h. 
The parents of the respondent original_ly professed Hindu religion and 
belongcl to ~fildiga caste which is a scheduled caste, in the Andhra Pradesh 
as spe~Hied in the schedule to the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950. 
Resrondent's parents were converted' to Christianity and thereafter the respon-
dent was born. The respondent got himself _converted to Hinduism renouncing 
. Christianity. Thereafter, he applied for admission to Guntur ~Iedical College 
on the basis that he was a member of a Scheduled Caste. 
1-!e was provi~ 
siona11y selected for admission but subsequently was informed by the PrincipaI 
of the College that his selection was cancelled as he was not a Hindu by 
birth. Tue Principal relied on Note (b) to Clause C of rule 2 of the Rules 
issuett by the Government of Andhra Pradesh for admission to the M.B.B.S. 
,~ourse iil Government Medical College. The said note provides that no 
candidate other than Hindu can claim to belong to Scheduled Caste. It further 
pro\-·ides that no candidate can belong to Scheduled ~ste except by birth. 
The respondent filed a Writ Petition in the High Court challenging the 
validity of Note (b} as going beyond the scope of the Constitution (Scheduled 
Castes) Order, 1950. The respondent succeeded before the teamed Single 
Judge as ·well as the Division Bench of the- High Court. In fact, it was 
conceded by the appellant before the High Court that note (b) \VJs repugnant 
to the sald Order. , 
Dismissing the cippeal by Special Leave, 
HELD: 1. It is clear on a plain rcadlni of clause 4 of Article 15 that the 
State has power to make special provision for scheduled castes and in exercise 
of its power the State can reserve seats in a Medical College for members of 
Scheduled Castes without violating Article IS or Article 29(2). Articlo 366(24) 
defines Scheduled Castes to mean such castes. races or tribes as are deemed 
under Article 34 l to be scheduled castes. The President in exercise of the 
powers conferred upon him under Article 341 bas · issued Constitution (Sche-
duled Castes) Order 1950. Madiga caste is included in the schedule to. the 
said order. The said order itself, however. provides that no person whe> 
professes a religion other than Hindu or Sikh shall be deemed t<> be· a mem· · 
her of a scheduled caste. 
It~ however~ does not require 
that he should 
have been born a Hindu or a Sikh. The only thing required is that at the 
material time he should profess Hindu or Sikh religion. The requirement of 
the note that a candidate in prd.er to be eligible for a reserved seat should be 
a member of a Scheduled Caste by birth went beyond the said order and wa~ 
rightly condemned as void. [1049B-H. !050AI 
2. There is no absolute rule applicable in all cases that whenever a member 
of 
a 
caste 
is 
converted 
from 
Hinduism · to 
Christianity 
he 
loses 
his 
membership 
of 
the 
caste. 
It 
would 
depend 
upan 
the structure' of the caste and its rules and regulations .. There are some castes, 
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GUN TUR MEDICAL COLLEGE \'. Y. MOHAN RAO (Bhagwati, J.) I 04 7 
particularly in South India, 
where this consequence does not follow on 
A 
con\'ersion since such castes comprise both Hindus and Christians. 
Whether 
Madiga caste falls in this category is a debatable question. For the purposes 
of the present appeal it is not necessary to decide the contention 
of 
the 
respondent that there are both Hindus and Christians in Madiga caste and 
l.!VCn after conversion to Christianity his parents continued to belong to Madiga 
"'"te. [!050-C.F] 
3. A similar question about the effect of re-conversion was decided by 
B 
!his Court in the case of C. R. Arun1ugarn vs. S. /?aiaRof)af. 
In that case this 
Court laid down that there is no reason to hold that a person on reconversion 
to Hinduism cannot once again become a member of the caste in which he 
was born and to which he belonged before conversi

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