The main legal point established in the judgment is that the caste of the progeny of inter-caste married couple is presumed to be that of the father, but this presumption is rebuttable. The burden of proof is on the claimant to establish their Scheduled Caste status, and the Caste Certificate issued by the Competent Authority is subject to verification by the Screening Committee and the Scrutiny Committee.

The 2nd petitioner is the daughter of the 1st petitioner who has appeared for the entrance examination conducted by the Commissioner of Entrance Examinations termed as 'KEAM 2015', for admission to professional degree courses. The 2nd petitioner seeks admission as a Scheduled Caste candidate in the reservation set apart for such Scheduled Castes.

2. The petitioners' Scheduled Caste status was, in the earlier year, rejected by the Anthropological Report of the Kerala Institute for Research, Training and Development Studies (KIRTADS) for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes constituted under the Kerala (Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes) Regulation of Issue of Community Certificates Act, 1996 (for brevity the 'Act'). The same is produced at Ext.P8. The petitioner filed a revision under Section 13 of the Act which has also been unsuccessful, as is evident at Ext.P20. The petitioners assail Exts.P8 and P20.

3. Though the petitioners seek for an interim order, this Court is of the opinion that the matter itself has to be heard since declining the interim order would prejudice the 2nd petitioner, if, eventually the writ petition is allowed. A provisional order for treatment as a Scheduled Caste would prejudice another eligible candidate, if, ultimately the writ petition is found to be unsustainable. Especially since the Statutory Authority has already considered the issue and there would be no scope for a further counter affidavit, on agreement of both sides the matter is heard finally.

4. The 1st and the 2nd petitioners admittedly were born as Christians, since the father of the 1st petitioner had converted to Christianity. The family of the 1st petitioner is said to have belonged originally to Hindu Cheramar community, which, admittedly comes under the Schedule and is treated as a Scheduled Caste in the State of Kerala. The paternal grandfather and grandmother were practising christians and so were the 1st and 2nd petitioners. However, in the year 2009, the 1st petitioner and his family is said to have reconverted to Hinduism by undergoing a 'Shudi Karma' under the auspices of Arya Samaj. The petitioners are said to have been accepted to the community of Hindu Chelamar, which the petitioners seek to establish by certain certificates produced as Exts.P13 to P17. The petitioners contend that despite their conversion to Christianity, they retained the essential character of the caste, to which they belonged and suffered the disabilities and disadvantage of the other caste members. The petitioners also would seek to buttress their claim with the community certificates issued to them as 'Christian Cheramar'. The petitioners rely on Ponnamma v. Regional Director - 1983 KLT 1057, The Principal, Guntur Medical College Guntur and Others v. Y. Mohan Rao - (1976) 3 SCC 411 and K.P. Manu v. Chairman, Scrutiny Committee for Verfication of Community Certificate - (2015) 4 SCC 1 to substantiate their claim, on conversion to Hinduism.

5. The learned Special Government Pleader (SC/ST) would however rely on the Anthropological Report of the KIRTADS and submits that both the petitioners, having been born into Christianity and having lived as christians till their reconversion, are to be treated as christians and not as a Scheduled Caste. The conversion is a measure of convenience, so as to enable the 2nd petitioner to be treated as a Scheduled Caste candidate, in the entrance examination. Only in 2009 the petitioners thought of converting back into their original caste and in such circumstance they cannot be said to have suffered the disadvantages and disabilities inherent to a member of that caste. The learned Special Government Pleader also specifically points out that the petitioner is the progeny of an inter-caste marriage and her mother belongs to the Ezhava Community. The 2nd petitioner had declared herself to be an Ezhava, as is evident from the school registers. Even if the petitioner is said to have been brought up as an Ezhava, the