KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Monday declared void the election of A Raja of the LDF from Devikulam, a reserved assembly constituency in the Idukki district. Justice P Somarajan observed that Raja is not a member of ‘Hindu Parayan’ within the state of Kerala and is not qualified to be chosen to fill a seat in the assembly reserved for Scheduled Caste.
Hence, the election of Raja from the Devikulam is declared void, the court said. The court pronounced the verdict while allowing a petition filed by D Kumar, the defeated UDF candidate challenging the election of Raja from the constituency. Raja won the constituency by a margin of 7,848 votes.
The court which examined details related to the family, baptism, and marriage, and burial registers found that Raja was actually professing Christianity during the submission of nomination papers and had converted to Christianity long ago.
As such, after the conversion, he cannot claim to be a member of the Hindu religion. On that score also, the returning officer ought to have rejected his nomination. In short, on both grounds, it is clear that Raja is not a member of ‘Hindu Parayan’ within the state of Kerala and is not qualified to be chosen to fill a seat reserved for Scheduled Caste. There was no claim on the part of the petitioner to declare him the winner. Hence, no such issue was taken up for consideration by the court.
The allegation levelled against Raja is that he filed his nomination papers claiming that he belongs to ‘Hindu Parayan’. A caste certificate issued by the Devikulam tahsildar and submitted along with his nomination papers was incorrect. The petitioner contended that his rival is not a member of a Scheduled Caste.
He further argued that those who belong to the Scheduled Caste in Kerala among Hindus are accorded the status of Scheduled Caste within the State of Kerala to contest in a constituency reserved for Scheduled Castes. A person belonging to the Christian religion or a converted Christian cannot be qualified. In fact, he was baptised at the CSI Church, Kundara division. The petitioner alleged that the tahsildar issued the certificate without proper inquiry. Raja, however, submitted that the tahsildar issued the certificate after complying with all legal formalities. Therefore, the acceptance of his nomination paper was perfectly legal.
Congress welcomes High Court's ruling
The High Court annulling the election of CPM candidate A Raja from the Devikulam reserved seat is a “democratic victory”, said state Congress president K Sudhakaran. Sudhakaran also congratulated UDF candidate D Kumar who initiated the legal battle against Raja. He urged the CPM to apologise in public for allowing Raja to contest the assembly election with forged documents.
“The incident at Devikulam shows the Dalit detestation of the CPM, which has all types of criminal activities,” said Sudhakaran. Welcoming the HC decision, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan demanded the CPM to apologise to the Scheduled Caste community.
“The UDF will win if re-election is announced in Devikulam. We will gear up for the by-election soon. A criminal case should be initiated against the CPM leader who produced a bogus certificate. The returning officer too has been a part of the crime,” said Satheesan.
Raja to move apex court against HC order
The CPM state leadership has permitted A Raja to contest the High Court’s order disqualifying him. He will file the appeal on Tuesday. The CPM is of the view that the favourable decision by the SC in a similar case related to Congress MP Kodukkunnil Suresh will help Raja in the legal battle. CPM state secretary M V Govindan told the media that Raja will file an appeal.