KISHORILAL HANS V. RAJA RAM SINGH AND ORS INSC 329; AIR 1972 SC 598; 1972 SCR 632

Name of Case: Kishorilal Hans v. Raja Ram Singh & Ors. (November 30, 1971)

Citation: 1972 AIR 598, 1972 SCR (2) 632

Facts of the Case:

Kishorilal Hans had contested and won the seat reserved for Scheduled Castes in the Bhander Assembly Constituency in Madhya Pradesh. His election was challenged by Raja Ram Singh, who alleged that Kishorilal belonged to the ‘jatav’ caste, which was not recognised as a Scheduled Caste in Datia district, where Hans was registered as an elector. The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, listed ‘chamar’ as a Scheduled Caste in Datia but ‘jatav’ was not specified. Hans proposed that ‘jatav’ was a sub-caste of ‘chamar’, making him eligible for contesting the seat.

Issue:

Whether ‘jatav’ is a sub-caste of ‘chamar’, thus making it fall under the Scheduled Caste category in Datia district

Whether Hans was qualified to contest for the reserved seat in the Bhander Assembly Constituency

Holding: The Supreme Court held that: As per the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, 'Jatav' is not equivalent to 'Chamar' for Datia district. As Hans does not belong to a recognised Scheduled Caste in Datia district, he was not eligible to contest for the reserved seat. Rationale: The Court highlighted that the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, provides a definite and binding list of castes recognized as Scheduled Castes in specific areas. It made clear that no additional evidence can be introduced to argue that a caste includes or is synonymous with another caste not explicitly listed in the order. As a result, the court concluded that ‘jatav’ could not be treated as a sub-caste of ‘chamar’ for the purpose of electoral eligibility in Datia district. Since ‘jatav’ was not recognized as a Scheduled Caste in Datia district, Kishorilal Hans did not qualify to contest the reserved seat for the Bhander Assembly Constituency. His election was declared invalid.