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TMI Blog1964 (10) TMI 101X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 and was thus disentitled from being a candidate for the particular seat and (b) that respondent No. 1 was guilty of several corrupt practices. The Tribunal held that the corrupt practices alleged against respondent No. 1 were not established. It, however, came to the conclusion that respondent No. 1 had embraced Buddhism as alleged by the appellant and was, therefore, not eligible for being a candidate for election from the reserved constituency. Upon this ground the Tribunal set aside the election of respondent No. 1. It may be mentioned that the appellant had made a further prayer to the effect that he should be declared elected to the seat; but this prayer was not granted by the Tribunal on the ground that he was not the only other candidate for election and, therefore, it cannot be said how the votes which respondent No. 1 had secured would have been distributed among the remaining candidates. Aggrieved by the decision of the Tribunal respondent No. 1 preferred an appeal before the High Court of Bombay. The only question which was urged before the High Court was regarding the alleged conversion of respondent No. 1 to Buddhism. On that question ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... gives an account of the proceedings. It says that about 5 lakhs of persons attended the meeting. At that meeting Dr. Ambedkar was present along with Rev. Mahesthavir Chandramani who is a Bhikku. The Bhikku made Dr. Ambedkar and Mrs. Ambedkar recite the three refuges (Thrisathi) and five precepts in Pali, after which both of them garlanded the idol of Lord Buddha which had been installed in the pandal where Dr. and Mrs. Ambedkar, the Bhikku and other prominent people were sitting. Dr. and Mrs. Ambedkar then took 22 vows which apparently he had himself prepared. Thereafter the mass ordination took place at which those who wished to be converted recited the three refuges three times. This event had attracted attention throughout the country and was given wide publicity by the press which was well represented at the meeting. Respondent No. 1 has admitted that he was a member of Dr. Ambedkar's party at that time and though he could not attend the conversion ceremony he had not dissociated himself from it. According to him the reason why he did not attend the ceremony was that he was then busy with making arrangements at the water works for the supply of water to the lakhs of people ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the Scheduled Castes; the second is a wedding invitation subscribed to, amongst others, by respondent No. 1 on which the picture of Lord Buddha is inscribed : and the third is the conversion of a Shiva temple situate near the appellant's house to a Buddha temple. 7. The declaration is Ex. 42 and is dated July 5, 1957. It is to the following effect : To whomsoever it may concern :- We, the following signatories, do hereby affirm that we embraced Buddha religion on 17-3-1957 and no longer since remain Harijans. 8. Then follow the names of ten persons, including P.W. 2 Akant Mate, P.W. 5 Devaji Bhagat and P.W. 10 Dongre. Each of them has signed therein against his name. The reason why this declaration came into existence is, according to the appellant, the following : Elections had taken place to the Nagpur Corporation and a meeting was held on July 5, 1957 for selection of six additional members. One of the Corporators, Mr. Udhoji, raised a point of order to the effect that no member of the Scheduled Castes having been elected to the Corporation a person belonging to the Scheduled Castes was required to be selected under the provisions of the Nagpur Mun ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... oration of the fact that he had ceased to be a Hindu as he had been converted to Buddhism. 10. Respondent No. 1 does not deny that the wedding invitation placed on record by the appellant bears his name as one of the hosts. The invitation pertains to the wedding of his daughters Lalita and Pushpa Lata and their respective bridegrooms were Sirish and Yashwant Rao. At the top of the invitation are the usual words Subh Langna (auspicious wedding). Then there is a picture of Lord Buddha followed by the inscription May victory and prosperity by yours - Obeisances to Buddha . It is well known that in Hindu weddings the invitations issued in an Indian language the picture of the Kuladaivata is generally printed and the blessings of the Kuladaivata are invoked. Had respondent No. 1 considered himself to be a Hindu he would have followed the usual practice. No doubt, sophisticated people, though still belonging to Hindu religion, have discarded the practice of printing the picture of the family deity on wedding invitations and of invoking the blessings of the deity. Respondent No. 1 does not suggest that he belongs to that class. Indeed, if that were so, there would have been no occas ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ple on the plot there could have been nothing to manage by the Panch Committee. No doubt, he says that while he was Chairman of that Committee in the year 1959 or 1960 it was decided to construct a Shiva Temple thereon. But it is difficult to believe that the people of the locality would have waited for 28 years for taking the decision. He admits that a temple dedicated to Lord Buddha was constructed thereon as alleged by the appellant and his witnesses. It seems clear that the decision of the committee to which he refers related to the construction of this temple and not to a Shiva Temple which was already there. The evidence led on behalf of the appellant was to the effect that at the ceremony held on June 6, 1959 the idol of Lord Buddha was installed above the Shiva Linga, presumably meaning thereby that the Shiva Linga was overlaid with earth or bricks and on the top of it the image of Lord Buddha was installed. Referring to the evidence of Shende the High Court has observed : The witness however does not say that he saw the removal of the old image of Lord Shiva or the Ling and the Pinda which were already there. On the other hand, it is the case of Meshram that the Corpo ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ly conclusion which can emerge is that respondent No. 1 had ceased to be a Hindu. For, however great the admiration or regard a Hindu may have for Lord Buddha, he would shudder at the idea of desecrating a Shiva Linga in this manner or even of converting what was once a Shiva temple into a Buddhist temple. In our opinion, this would be the strongest circumstance corroborating the evidence of eye-witnesses regarding the conversion of respondent No. 1 to Buddhism. 16. It is contended on behalf of respondent No. 1 that there is a register of persons who had been converted too Buddhism and that the first respondent's name does not appear there. It is true that R.W. 5 Waman Godbole speaks of some register but his evidence clearly shows that the register is not regularly maintained nor are the signatures of persons who had been converted taken according to the dates of conversion. There is nothing to show that it was obligatory on every person who had been converted to sign in the register. Moreover, a signature in such a register would at best be only a piece of evidence of the fact of conversion and nothing more. Absence of a person's signature in the register would not nece ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... g the aforesaid order because it is this which bears upon religious belief and consequently also upon a change in religious belief. It would thus follow that a declaration of one's belief must necessarily mean a declaration in such a way that it would be known to those whom it may interest. Therefore, if a public declaration is made by a person that he has ceased to belong to his old religion and has accepted another religion he will be taken as professing the other religion. In the face of such an open declaration it would be idle to enquire further as to whether the conversion to another religion was efficacious. The word profess in the Presidential Order appears to have been used in the sense of an open declaration or practice by a person of the Hindu (or the Sikh) religion. Where, therefore, a person says, on the contrary, that he has ceased to be a Hindu he cannot derive any benefit from that Order. 18. Finally it is argued that the word Hindu is comprehensive enough to include a Buddhist and in this connection our attention is invited to Explanation II to clause (2) of Art. 25 of the Constitution. Clause (1) of Art. 25 recognises, amongst other things, freedom to pra ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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