NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition seeking to declare Smartha Brahmins living in Tamil Nadu who follow Advaitha philosophy as a minority. The bench of Justices Krishna Murari and SR Bhat while dismissing the plea said many people in the country follow the advaita philosophy, followers of Advaita are not a minority.
Court’s order came in a ruling challenging Madras HC’s verdict on June 7, 2022 which held that Smartha Brahmins were just a caste/community without any peculiarity specifically attributable to them that distinguished them from other Brahmins in Tamil Nadu.
The HC had also observed that they could not be identified as a religious denomination and were not entitled to benefits under Article 26 of the Constitution. Justice R Vijayakumar of the Madurai Bench also said, “Oral evidence of the witnesses clearly establishes that Smartha Brahmins do not follow any distinct or different religious beliefs other than that of the Hindus following the mainstream Hindu religion.”
It is clear that a common faith of a community should be based on religion and it is essential that they should have common religious tenets which connect them and it should be religion and not anything else. In the present case, the plaintiffs have clearly failed to establish that they are having some common religious tenets peculiar to themselves other than those which are common to the entire Hindu community in general. Whatever religious ceremonies, philosophy or rituals stated to be followed by the plaintiffs are also followed by other Brahmins in the State of Tamil Nadu.
It is clear that the plaintiff Smartha Brahmins community, do not have a system of belief or doctrine which is completely different and peculiar from the other Brahmins in the State of Tamil Nadu. Hence, the plaintiffs have utterly failed to establish that they constitute a denomination as a Smartha Brahmins in the State of Tamil Nadu,” the HC had observed.