A person whose father was originally a Hindu belonging to a Scheduled caste but converted to Christianity can be said to be professing Hindu religion and belonging to a Scheduled caste within the meaning of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, if he is accepted as a member of that caste by the other members of the caste and if he professes Hindu religion at the relevant time.

( 1 ) THIS writ petition has been pluced before us in pursuance of an order of reference made by our learned brother, Gangadhara Rao J. , referring the writ petition to a Division Bench. Our learned brother felt that, since an important question of law arises in this writ petition, it should be heard by a Division Bench.

( 2 ) THE question involved in this case is, whether a person, whose father was originally a Hindu belonging to a Scheduled caste, but convened to Christianity, can be said to be professing Hindu religion and belonging to a Scheduled caste within the meanir. g of the Ccmtiiuiicn (Scheduled castes) Order 1950. Our learned brother felt that there was no violation of the provisions of the Constitution (Scheduied Castes)Order 1950 much less of the provisions of clause (4) of Article 15 of the Constitution. Our learned brother came to the conclusion that through the petition was treated as a member of the Madiga caste even as a Christian, he was not a person professing hindu, religion and, therefore, did not come within the purview of the constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950. However, as we have stated above, in view of the importance of the question involved, he has referred the writ petition to a Division Bench.

( 3 ) IN order to appreciate the controversy involved in this case, it would be better to refer to the facts as appearing in the writ petition. On january 19, 1974, the petitioner applied for admission into the First Year m. B. B. S Course in Sri Venkateswara Medical College, Tirupathi. He contended that he belonged to a Scheduled Caste i. e. , Adi-Andhra (Madiga) community. He also produced the Social Status Certificate issued to that effect by the Tahsildar, Udayagiri On the basis of his application and the documentary evidence produced by htm. he was admitted into the First year M. B. B. S. , Course on March 20, 1974, under the category specially reserved for Scheduled Castes. Subsequently, the petitioner s social status was got verified through the District Collector, Nellore, who after due verification, reported that the father of the petitioner was not a Hindu, but a converted Christian, originally belonging to Adi-Andhra Caste. The father of the petitioner, according to the report of the District Collector, was reconverted to Hinduism on August, 2 1974. On the basis of these materials placed before him, the Principal of Sri Venkateswara Medical College, tirupati, came to the prim a facie conclusion that the petitioner had sought admission to the college by falsely alleging that he belonged to the scheduled Caste though, in fact, he was a Christian. In view of that prima facie conclusion, a notice to show cause why the seat allotted to him in medical College should not be cancelled under Rule 20 of the Medical college Admission Rules for 1973-74, was issued to the petitioner. The petitioner submitted his explanation on November, 30, 1974 stating that his father was a Hindu (Adi-Andhra) and had continued to be a Hindu, bat by mistake, he was shown as a Christian in the records, ft was further contended that the petitioner was also a Hindu (Adi Andhra) by birth. The Principal was not satisfied with this explanation. He held that the petitioner did not belong to a Schedule Caste viz. . Adi-Andhra (Madiga ). The Principal found that the petitioner was the son of a Scheduled Caste member converted to Christianity. Holding that the petitioner had made a false claim of belonging to a Scheduled Caste and had obtained a seat under the Scheduled Caste category by furnishing wrong and fruadulent information, the Principal cancelled the original admission granted to the petitioner by exercising the powers under rule 20 of the Medical College admission Rules This order was passed by the Principal on August 29, 1975. The petitioner challenges that order of the Principal in these writ proceedings.

( 4 ) CLAUSE (24) of Article 366 of the Constitution defines scheduled Castes to mean such castes, races or t

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