SC sets aside conviction of woman in false caste certificate case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court set aside conviction of a woman in a case related to obtaining false caste certificate.

A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih said that only if the appellate court is satisfied that the guilt of the accused is duly proved and it is the only plausible finding which could have been recorded based on the evidence on record, the appellate court can overturn the order of acquittal.

The court here allowed the appeal filed by Vimalakka Ramappa Koli alias Talwar and set aside the judgment and order of January 21, 2015 passed by the VII Additional District and Sessions Judge, Belgaum and restored the judgment and order by the judicial magistrate.

"We find that the Sessions Court has not adverted to the ingredients of the offences for which the appellant was convicted. Perhaps the Sessions Court felt troubled because there were many cases where the caste certificates issued by the competent authority were being invalidated, and people were taking undue advantage of such certificates," the bench said.

Moreover, the Sessions Court was impressed by the fact that the appellant did not challenge the committee’s order invalidating the caste certificate, the bench added.

In its October 16 judgment, referring to Section 198 of the IPC, the bench said the Section used the word “corruptly”, meaning thereby, mens rea is an essential ingredient of the offence.

"Only because the appellant could not establish her caste claim before the committee, one cannot conclude that the appellant corruptly used the caste certificate. Moreover, corruptly using the certificate is not sufficient. The accused must have knowledge that the certificate is false. The allegation that the certificate is false to the knowledge of the appellant must be proved by the prosecution," the court said.

The bench also pointed out that when the competent authority grants a caste certificate, it can be invalidated on various grounds. One reason can be that the person could not substantiate his caste claim. The second can be that fabricated or forged documents were produced to support the caste claim, it said.

"It is not in dispute that the caste certificate was issued by the authority which was competent to issue it after following due procedure. Therefore, the caste certificate, per se, cannot be false or fabricated. If a caste certificate is invalidated as the applicant could not prove his caste, it cannot be termed false only on the ground that it was invalidated. There is no evidence to show that the caste certificate was false," the bench said holding the ingredients of Section 198 of the IPC were not made out.

The bench also said fraudulent or dishonest acts are essential ingredients of cheating but the Sessions Court has recorded no such finding regarding any fraudulent or dishonest acts on the part of the appellant.

The Karnataka High Court has upheld the Sessions Court's order overturning her acquittal.

The bench, however, said there is no finding recorded that the ingredients of the offences alleged have been proved.

It was alleged that an application was made by the appellant on September 9, 2022 to the competent authority falsely claiming that she belongs to Hindu Holer caste, which is a Scheduled Caste.

After obtaining the caste certificate, she also allegedly secured a loan to Karnataka Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Development Corporation Limited, Belgaum.

However, the District Caste Verification Committee concluded that she did not belong to the Hindu Holer caste but belonged to the Hindu Talwar caste. Thus, it invalidated her caste certificate.

Upon her prosecution, the Judicial Magistrate acquitted but the Sessions Court convicted and sentenced her to undergo simple imprisonment for three years and Rs 5,000 fine.

The High Court confirmed her conviction for the offences punishable under Sections 198 and 420 of the IPC. However, it acquitted the appellant for the offence punishable under Section 196 of the IPC. It also reduced the substantive sentence to six months.