M RAMASANKAR Vs. DISTRICT LEVEL VIGILANCE COMMITTEE &

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS writ petition is filed with the prayer of Certiorarified Mandamus to quash the proceeding of the first respondent dated 5.1.2007 whereby the community certificates issued in favour of the writ petitioner in Certificate No.550 of 1994 dated 01.09.1994 and Certificate No.3949 of 2003 dated 11.11.2003 by the then Tahsildar of Ambasamudram are cancelled.

(2.) IT is the case of the writ petitioner that he belongs to Hindu Pallan Community, which is recognized as a Scheduled Caste. He was born to one K. Marudhan and Chellam, who are the parents of the writ petitioner. His mother chellam is the second wife to his father. She also belongs to the same community. Though his father belongs to Hindu Pallan Community, his mother was a Christian by birth, converted into Hindu Religion after her marriage with the father of the petitioner. In fact, the marriage between his father and mother took place only in Hindu Temple. So far as the petitioner is concerned, he was embracing Hindu Religion and custom and traditionally professing only the Hindu practices. He has no shade of Christian custom or rites.

(3.) IN the meantime, he has also filed the present writ petition challenging the order of the first respondent. The main contention of the writ petitioner in the present writ petition is that his family is professing Hinduism and right from the days of his childhood, he is practising Hinduism though alleged to have been Baptized on 18.09.1976, when the petitioner was three months old and that his father by progeny belongs to Hindu Pallan Community and that his mother, who was Christian by birth though belonging to Pallan community, but on the day of her marriage, to the father of the petitioner she converted as Hindu from Christianity and changed her name from Stanzy to Chellam. It is the further case of the petitioner that even in the school records and college records the petitioner was clearly mentioned only as belonging to Hindu Pallan Community. When he applied for the Community certificate in the year 1994 as well as in the year 2003, before issuing the community certificate a detailed enquiry was conducted by the then Tahsildar, Ambasamudram by examining the persons from his village both from his community as well as from the other community and the village headman and also the Parish Priest of a Church on two occasions who had stated that the petitioner is not a Christian and he did not become the member of the Church at any point of time, and issued a certificate that the petitioner is not a Christian. Based on those evidence the then Tahsildar, Ambasamudram issued certificate in favour of writ petitioner stating that he belongs to Hindu Pallan Community While the situation stood thus, the order dated 31.03.2005 came to be passed by the second respondent herein rejecting the appeal filed his father against the order dated 19.1.2005 rejecting the application of the petitioner's sister filed for issuance of the community certificate, in which order the second respondent had observed that a report would be submitted to the District Collector, Tirunelveli to examine the community certificate already issued to the petitioner and to his other sister by the then Tahsildar of Ambasamudram. Subsequently, pursuant to the observation made in the order dated 31.3.2005, the second respondent had also submitted a report dated 02.06.2005 stating that the then Tahsildar, Ambasamudram had issued community certificate to the writ petitioner as Hindu Pallan community wrongly. Based on the report of the second respondent, enquiry was conducted by the first respondent. The writ petitioner had also appeared in the enquiry and after completing the enquiry, the first respondent had cancelled the community certificate of the petitioner.