The Supreme Court has reserved its judgment on a plea by CPI(M) leader A Raja, challenging the Kerala High Court’s decision that annulled his election from the Devikulam Assembly seat in Idukki district. The high court had earlier set aside his election following allegations of ineligibility to contest the seat reserved for the Scheduled Caste (SC) community.
The case stems from a petition filed by Congress leader D Kumar, who lost to Raja in the 2021 Assembly elections by a margin of 7,848 votes. Kumar contended that Raja was not qualified to contest from the reserved seat, alleging that Raja was a Christian and had used a falsified caste certificate.
During the Supreme Court proceedings, a bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka, Ahsanuddin Amanullah, and Augustine George Masih heard from senior advocates V Giri and Narender Hooda, representing Raja and Kumar respectively. The crux of the dispute revolves around Raja’s community status and the nature of his marriage, which Kumar claims was conducted according to Christian rites, implying Raja’s conversion to Christianity.
Raja defended his eligibility, asserting his membership in the Hindu Parayan community and providing a caste certificate from the Tahsildar of Devikulam. He also emphasized that his marriage was performed using Hindu rituals, including the lighting of a traditional lamp and the tying of a ‘thali’ around his wife’s neck.
The high court had previously ruled against Raja, pointing to “evasive answers” about his marriage and observed that his attire during the wedding suggested a Christian ceremony. It concluded that there was a deliberate attempt by Raja to conceal his religious identity and upheld Kumar’s objections regarding Raja’s qualifications based on his alleged conversion to Christianity and insufficient evidence of his family’s historical status as part of the Hindu SC community in Kerala.
