District authorities not empowered to issue ‘no caste no religion’ certificates: Madras High Court

Revenue officials in the State do not have statutory power to issue ‘no caste, no religion’ certificate to any individual and the High Court too cannot exercise its extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 226 to issue such direction to revenue officials, the Madras High Court recently held..In an order passed on January 22, Justice SM Subramaniam dismissed the petition filed by one H Santosh, a resident of Tirupathur district in Tamil Nadu, seeking directions to the Tehsildar and the district collector concerned to grant him a “no caste no religion certificate.”All the same, the Court commended the petitioner for his attempt to procure such a certificate. “Being a good citizen is the greatest contribution for the development of our great nation. It is the fundamental duty contemplated under Article 51A of the Constitution. Petitioner’s desire to secure a ‘No Caste, No Religion,’ certificate deserves to be appreciated but the question arises as to whether such certificate can be issued by the Tahsildar in the absence of any power conferred by the Government to issue such nature of Certificate,” the High Court said..The Court recorded the Tamil Nadu government’s submission that the Tehsildar or other revenue authorities do not have any power to issue such certificates to anyone..Besides, the Court observed that the Tamil Nadu government through two government orders issued in 1973 and 2000 had already permitted citizens to leave the columns for caste and religion in their school and other educational certificates “blank” if they so wished. Issuance of a general direction in the form of a ‘no caste no religion certificate’ could lead to complications in enforcing certain legal rights, the Court said..“Issuance of “No Caste No Religion” Certificate would have certain implications. For inheritance/succession personal laws are applied and therefore, a decision by a person and its repercussions are to be looked into. Rule of reservations are availed of by the citizen, therefore, certain decisions, if taken without understanding the repercussions and consequences, would affect the future generations,” the High Court said..The Court accordingly said that the petitioner was at liberty to leave the column provided for caste and religion blank in the school documents and the same cannot be questioned by the authorities. However, in the absence of any power conferred on a revenue authority to issue such a certificate, the High Court cannot issue a direction, the Court said.“In the absence of any power conferred on the Revenue Authority to issue “No Caste No Religion” Certificate, High Court in exercise of powers under Judicial Review under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, cannot issue a direction to issue such certificate, which will open flood gate for other persons to seek such certificate and the authorities will be forced to issue such certificate in the absence of any such powers conferred either under any statute or by the Government,” the High Court said while dismissing the plea..Advocate M Navin Kumar appeared for petitioner H Santosh.Additional Government Pleader Vadivelu Deenadayalan appeared for the respondent State and District authorities..[Read Order]