Karnataka High Court says it has jurisdiction over poll disputes involving caste certificates

The election petition was filed by one G Swamy contending that while Jagaluru assembly constituency is reserved for Scheduled Tribe, Devendrappa does not belong to Scheduled Tribe as claimed but belongs to the Other Backward Community.

Bengaluru: The high court has said that the Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes (Reservation of Appointments, etc.) Act does not take away the jurisdiction of the High Court to decide an election dispute questioning the caste of a returned candidate to the Legislative Assembly.

The court said this while rejecting the interlocutory application filed by B Devendrappa, Congress MLA from Jagaluru in an election petition filed challenging his election.

The election petition was filed by one G Swamy contending that while Jagaluru assembly constituency is reserved for Scheduled Tribe, Devendrappa does not belong to Scheduled Tribe as claimed. According to the petitioner, Devendrappa belongs to the Other Backward Community.

On the other hand, Devendrappa argued that the caste certificate holds good till it is cancelled by the District Caste Verification Committee (DCVC) and only this committee formed under the Karnataka Scheduled Castes Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes (Reservation of Appointment etc.,) Act has the jurisdiction to decide on the validity of the caste.

Justice Anant Ramanath Hegde said that the Representation of People's Act, the law made by the Parliament dealing with election to the Legislative Assembly, governs the elections and it does not provide any such power to the state.

“It is true that the caste of a person cannot be different for different purposes. If a certificate is issued certifying a person to be caste ‘X’, for one purpose, his caste will be and should be ‘X’ for all other purposes as well. One cannot claim that his caste is ‘X’ for one purpose and ‘Y’ for another. However, said logic does not give primacy to the decisions of DCVC in derogation of the jurisdiction conferred on the High Court under the Act of 1951,” Justice Hegde said.

The court further said, “The DCVC is a creature of a statute with a statutorily defined role. Its exclusive jurisdiction is confined to the caste certificates covered under the Act of 1990 and not beyond and certainly the jurisdiction conferred on it will not eclipse the jurisdiction of the High Court conferred under the Act of 1951. Thus, viewed from any angle it is not possible to hold that provisions of the Act of 1990 take away the jurisdiction of the High Court acting under the Act of 1951 to decide the dispute concerning the returned candidate’s caste.”