CHENNAI: Can caste organisations, with avowed goals of furthering the interest of their respective castes, be registered in the caste’s name as societies under the state and the central acts, asked the Madras High Court. It has sought the TN government to submit its stand on the issue.
“Even though every citizen of India has the right to form an association under Article 19 of the Constitution of India and even persons belonging to a particular caste can form an association, the question remains whether the association can be formed in the caste’s name and whether its goal can be to perpetuate the caste. This is the issue to be decided,” said Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy.
He noted, “Societies can be formed and registered under the Act for various scientific and charitable purposes that are expressly mentioned in the Act.”
The judge made the comments while hearing the writ petitions filed by the South Indian Senguntha Mahajana Sangam, a caste-based association, challenging certain orders of the state government regarding its internal elections.
The judge further said if the objectives of the association align with the perpetuation of caste, a question arises whether associations, that mention their caste in their names and have bylaws stating that only persons of a particular caste are its members, can be registered either under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act or under the Societies Registration Act, the central act.
“The more alarming situation is that many of these associations, with very pious and good motives, are running schools, colleges, and educational institutions. The irony is that at the entrance of the institution, the name of the school is mentioned as “so and so school run by so and so association” which includes the caste name,” the judge said.
“The teacher who enters the school will teach the first lesson in Tamil ‘jaathigal illaiyadi pappa’ (there is no caste, children),” Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy added, to highlight the irony.
He said that he was of the view that the Constitution aims at a casteless society. Stating the matter, whether caste associations can, at all, be registered as societies under the Tamil Nadu Registration of Societies Act and the Societies Registration Act, he asked the advocate general to place the stand of the government in court.