Kartik Oraon v. David Munzni And Another

Choudhary, J.:— This appeal under section 116-A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (Act 43 of 1951) is directed against the judgment and order of Election Tribunal, presided over by Shri Syed Bahauddin Ahmad. Judicial Commissioner of Chotanagpur. Ranchi, dated the 12th of February, 1963, by which he dismissed the election petition filed by the appellant under section 81 of the said Act.

2. In the last general election the appellant and the two respondents were rival candidates for the Parliamentary seat from Lohardaga Parliamentary (Scheduled Tribes) Constituency. The appellant was the official candidate of the Congress party, the respondent No. 1 was the official candidate the Swatantra party and the respondent No. 2 was the official candidate of the Jharkhand party. The result of the election was declared on the 2nd of March, 1962, declaring respondent No. 1 to have been duly elected. The appellant polled 41,804 votes, while respondent No. 1 polled 58,173 votes and respondent No. 2 polled 31,744 votes. The appellant, therefore, filed an election petition challenging the validity of the election of respondent No. 1 — who will hereinafter be referred to as ‘the respondent’ — and praying for a declaration that he was the duly elected candidate front Lohardaga Lok Sabha seat (Scheduled Tribes). It was also prayed that, if that be not possible, the entire election be declared as void. Before the Election Tribunal several grounds were taken for establishing the invalidity of the election all of which were negatived by the Election Tribunal and the election petition was accordingly dismissed. Mr. Singh, appearing for the appellant, however, has pressed only three points in support of the appeal, (1) that the respondent was guilty of corrupt practices by publishing and distributing two pamphlets Exts 1 and 1.a inciting communal feeling, caste feeling and caste and community hatred between classes and thereby exercising undue influence on the voters; (2) that he misled the voters by making a representation that the symbol “cycle” ‘which was the symbol of the respondent, was the symbol of the appellant; and (3) that the two respondents are Indian Christians and, as such, they were not entitled to contest the Parliamentary seat concerned as candidates for a seat particularly meant for the Scheduled Tribes. Counsel for the respondent has challenged the validity of all these points and has submitted that the appellant has entirely failed to establish anyone of them. It has, therefore, to be considered as to how far the appellant has been able to substantiate his case or these three points.

3. The first question that has to be determined is whether the respondent was responsible for the publishing and distributing of the two pamphlets. Exts. 1 and 1.a, and whether they incited any communal or caste feeling or caste and community hatred. It may be mentioned that, along with the election petition, affidavit sworn by 12 persons in support of the election petition were filed as a part of the election petition itself. Out of them, 9 persons have been examined as witnesses on behalf of the appellant, namely, P.Ws 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11 and 17. The evidence of these witnesses has been thoroughly considered by the Member of the Election Tribunal who rightly held that no reliance whatsoever could be placed on the evidence of any of these witnesses. P.Ws 1 to 5, 8, 9, 17 and 23 have deposed about the distribution of Ext. 1 and P.Ws 6, 7, 10 and 11 have given evidence with respect to the distribution of the pamphlet Exts. 1.a. (After discussing evidence his Lordship proceeded.)

4. Thus, the evidence adduced on behalf of the appellant with respect to the distribution of the pamphlet, Ext. 1, is unworthy of credence and no reliance can be placed on the same.

5. In this connection reference may be made to the statement of P.W 21, the proprietor of the Sudarshan Press, also where the two pamphlets were printed. With respect to the pamphlet Ext. 1 his statement is that its manuscript was given to him by one Shri Krishna Nath Sah Deo who, according to him, is the President of the District Swatantra party. He has stated that he received the remuneration for the pamphlets, but he did not give any cash memo. According to him, he received the payment on bill. That bill has not been produced. He also maintains account registers. They too have, not been produced to support his statement. On his evidence, therefore, it cannot be held that the respondent had anything to do with the printing and publishing of the pamphlet Ext. 1.

6. Now I come to the second pamphlet, Ext. 1.a. The evidence on this point, as already observed, consists of the testimonies of P.Ws 6, 7, 10 and 11. (His Lordship discussed their evidence and proceeded).

7. Considering the evidence, as discussed above, I am in perfect agreement with the finding of the Election Tribunal that the appellant has failed to prove that the pamphlets, Exts. 1 and 1.a, were printed at the instance of the respondent or were distributed at his instance or with his consent.

8. Assuming, however, in favour of the appellant that these pamphlets were printed and distributed at the instance of the respondent, there is nothing, in my opinion, in these pamphlets which may have the tendency of inciting any communal or caste feeling or caste and community hatred and promoting enmity between classes in connection with the election, as alleged by the appellant.

9. So far as the pamphlet Ext. 1.a is concerned, Counsel for the appellant has not pressed his point with reference to this pamphlet and has not thus challenged the finding of the Election Tribunal with respect to it. It is, not, therefore, necessary to deal with the contents of Ext. 1.a. Counsel for the appellant, however, has urged seriously that the pamphlet, Ext. 1, has the effect of inciting hatred and caste and communal feelings. This pamphlet has been addressed to the Catholics by Mr. A. Soares, President of the Catholic Union of India, with respect to the duties of the Catholics in the coming elections. The relevant portion of this pamphlet runs as follows:

“I have received inquiries as to whom Catholics should give their vote to in the next elections. For individual candidates, they should vote for such as are, to their knowledge, intelligent, conversant with public affairs and bearing good character — not mere adventurers or go-getters, even though they be Catholics. There are a large number of candidates who are independent or stand on no party basis. This advice is meant primarily for such cases though it is applicable to all; but Catholics should not support candidates who, though nominally independent, ate relying on Communist support. They are probably crypto Communists.

As for the parties; Communists and those in league with them, such as the Maharashtra Samiti, are ruled out on principle. Communal parties like the Jan Sangh. Hindu Mahasabha, R.S.S should receive no support, not only because they are communal, but because they are strongly biased against Christians. Nor should Catholics cast their votes for purely communal candidates like the Muslim Leaguers.

There remain three national parties — the Congress, the Praja Socialist and Swatantra. There are also regional parties, such as the D.M.K (Madras), Ganatantra Parishad (Orissa), Janata Party (Bihar). The last two may certainly receive Catholie support, but it is inadvisable of Catholics to vote for a party like D.M.K which stands for the disruption of the country.

Catholics may cast their votes on any of the candidates of the national parties, whose programmes on the whole do not clash with Catholic principles. There is no party, except perhaps the Swatantra, whose programme is entirely unobjectionable. Those who wish to learn about the party programmes, may look up Social Action (January) which has given a fair summary.”

10. From the above statement it is clear that the instruction to the Catholics was not to cast their votes on caste or religion basis. It is clearly stated therein that the Catholics might not give votes even to Catholic candidates if, to the knowledge of the voters, they were not intelligent, conversant with public affairs and bearing good character.

11. The instruction further says that Catholic candidates might not be given votes if they were mere adventurers or go-getters. It also goes on to say that votes should not be given to such candidates who belong to a party of Communists or to a party which stands for the disruption of the country. Then, towards the end, it says that, according to the President, the Swatantra party perhaps was a party whose programme was entirely unobjectionable. In my opinion, there is no such statement in pamphlet, Ext. 1, which has any tendency to induce people to vote on caste or religion basis or to incite communal and caste feelings or caste and community hatred. Thus, even on merits, the instructions given in the pamphlet, Ext. 1, do not constitute a relevant ground for setting aside the election.

12. The second point urged on behalf of the appellant is that in certain villages the respondent misled the voters by posing himself as the appellant and making representation to them that the symbol of the appellant was “cycle Chhap”, which, in fact, was his symbol. It is contended that by making such false representation the respondent misled the voters to caste their votes in his favour, though they intended to vote for the appellant believing that ‘cycle’ was his symbol. It is therefore, submitted that the election is vitiated on the ground of false representation. According to the appellant, this false representation was made in villages Turiamba, Samsera, Rajkera, Arangi and Putto on different dates. The evidence in this regard consists of the testimonies of P.Ws 15, 16, 18, 19 and 20. (His Lordship discussed their evidence and continued).

13. In my opinion, the appellant has utterly failed to prove that any such false representation or impersonation was made by the respondent, as alleged by him (the appellant): and I perfectly agree with the finding of the Election Tribunal in this regard.

14. So far as the third point is concerned, its solution is not free from difficulty. The allegations of the appellant in regard to this matter are contained in paragraphs 9 to 20 of the election petition, the sum and substance of which is that the two respondents are Indian Christians and have nothing to do with the animistic faith and tribal way of life, nor do they follow the manners and customs of the tribes and have no affinity nor any common interest, defence or aspirations with or for the tribal people and, as such, they were not entitled to contest the Parliamentary seat concerned as candidates on a seat purely meant for the Scheduled Tribes. Admittedly, the ancestors of the two respondents were originally Oraons. But they subsequently embraced Christianity and the two respondents are Christians by religion. The question, however, is whether, by embracing Christianity, they ceased to be Oraons.

15. Under Article 342(1) of the Constitution of India, the President has been authorised to specify by public notification with respect to any State or Union territory, and where it is a State, after consultation with the Governor thereof, the tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within tribes or tribal communities which shall for the purposes of the Constitution be deemed to be Scheduled Tribes in relation to that State or Union territory, the case may be.

16. Under this Article the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, was made by the President according to which, as shown in Part III, item No. 25, an Oraon is deemed to be a Scheduled Tribe so far as Bihar is concerned. Therefore, if the two respondents could not cease to be Oraons on account of ‘their embracing Christianity, they come within the meaning of ‘Scheduled Tribes’ and were, therefore, entitled to stand as candidates for the seat reserved for the Scheduled Tribes.

17. The contention on behalf of the appellant, however, is that, after embracing Christianity, they ceased to be Oraons and, therefore, they could not come within the meaning of ‘Scheduled Tribes’ and, as such, they were not entitled to contest the seat reserved for Scheduled Tribes. It has, therefore, to be seen whether the two respondents ever ceased to be Oraons on account of change of religion by embracing Christianity.

18. “Tribe” has been defined in Encyclopaedia Britannica, Volume 22, 1961 edition, at page 465, by W.H.R Rivers as “a social group of a simple kind, the members of which speak a common dialect, have a single government, and act together for such common purposes as “warfare”. Other typical characteristics include a common name, a contiguous territory, a relatively uniform culture or way of life and a tradition of common descent. Tribes are usually composed of a number of local communities, e.g, bands, villages or neighbourhoods, and are often aggregated in clusters of a higher order called nations. The term is seldom applied to societies that have achieved a strictly territorial organization in large states but is usually confined to groups whose unity is based primarily upon a sense of extended kinship ties. It is no longer used for kin groups in the strict sense, such as clans.”

19. As already observed, the case of the appellant is that two respondents have nothing to do with the animistic faith and tribal way of life and they did not follow the manners and customs of the tribes and have no affinity nor any common interest, defence or aspirations with or for the tribal people and that, in order to be classed as a scheduled tribe, a person must have social affinity with the tribes, problems of common interest, aspirations and defence and must profess the tribal religion (animism) and follow the tribal way of life. In reply to the above allegation, the respondent, in his written statement, stated that both the respondents were and are members of the Oraon tribe which has been specified as a scheduled Tribe in the State of Bihar under the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 and that having anything to do with the animistic faith and tribal way of life was no ingredient of membership of Scheduled Tribes within the meaning of the said Order. It was further stated that many members of various Scheduled Tribes, professing the Christian faith, have contested Parliamentary and Assembly seats which were reserved for members of Scheduled Tribes in the first, second and third general elections in this country and the successful contestants among them served their full terms as members of the respective legislature without any challenge, and that, as a matter of fact, respondent No. 2 had successfully contested his particular reserved seat in the general election held in 1957 and he served as a member of the Lok Sabha for the full term till its dissolution on the eve of the general election of 1962.

20. Both the parties Save adduced evidence in support of their respective cases. (His lordship discussed this evidence and then proceeded.)

21. From the evidence of the parties discussed above, it appears that, even if a non-Christian Oraon omitted to observe some of the festivals and observed certain festivals in a manner different from others, he did not cease to be a tribal. It also appears that the Christian Oraons also observe some of the festivals of the tribals which are not in direct conflict with the religion of Christianity. The most important thing that appears from the evidence referred to above is that the non-Christian Oraons treat the converted Oraons as tribals calling them ‘Christian Oraons’. The very fact that the converted Oraons are called as ‘Christian Oraons’ shows that they are Oraons first and Christians next.

22. It further appears that during the course of the previous general elections the people of the locality took both the respondents as representatives of the tribals and actually respondent No. 2 remained a member of the Parliament on the last occasion. (Vide All India Civil List published in November, 1960 at page 6). Over and above all these, the respondent appears to have taken up the cause for the improvement of the condition of the tribals, including Christians and non-Christians, and both kinds of Oraons consider the respondent to be one of them for their uplift work and are members of the Adivasi Unnati Samaj, of which the respondent is the President. It is not, therefore, possible to hold on such evidence that the Christian Oraons have no social affinity with the tribals or with the problems of common interest, aspirations and defence, and that the ways of life of the Christian Oraons are different from those of the non-Christian Oraons.

23. Before the Election Tribunal three documents, namely, a sale deed (Ext. B), a parcha (Ext. C) and a khatian (Ext. D), had been produced on Behalf of the respondent to show that his ancestors were accepted as Oraons though their religion was mentioned as Christianity. The learned Member of the Tribunal accepted these documents to come to a finding that the mere fact that the respondent was a Christian since the time of his father's father did not make any difference whatsoever. These documents Save not been printed in the paper-book and Counsel for the appellant did not advance any argument with respect to these documents. It is thus clear that these documents showed that even Christian Oraons were called Oraons. In other words, on account of their having accepted the religion of Christianity they did not cease to be called as Oraons. Thus, in fact, it is held that the respondent is an Oraon and was perfectly entitled to stand as a candidate for the Parliamentary seat reserved for the Scheduled Tribes.

24. Counsel for the appellant has, however, drawn our attention to the Government of India (Provincial Legislative Assemblies) Order, 1936, dated the 30th of April, 1936, by which a separate territorial constituency for Indian Christians was established. In Part VII of that Order, paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 deal with this matter (vide page 71). Paragraph 4 states that the Indian Christian seat shall be filled by an election by an electoral college consisting of forty persons nominated for the purposes of the election by the Chota Nagpur Catholic Sabha and forty persons nominated for the purposes of the election by the Bihar and Orissa Christian Council. Paragraph 5 says that a person shall not be qualified to be chosen to fill the Indian Christian seat unless he is an Indian Christian entitled to vote in the choice of a member to fill that seat or some seat in a territorial constituency.

25. Paragraph 6 declares that a person shall not be qualified to be chosen to fill a seat reserved for a representative of backward tribes unless he is a member of a backward tribe who is entitled to vote in the choice of a member to fill that seat or some general seat. Counsel for the appellant has argued on the basis of the above order that a distinction was made between Indian Christians and Oraons for the purposes of representation in the Provincial Legislative Assembly and it must, therefore, be held that the Indian Christians ceased to be Oraons for such representation.

26. Those were the days when serious attempts were made by different missionaries to convert people, especially the Adivasis, to Christianity and, in order to give temptation to them to accept that faith, all sorts of facilities were given and, in my opinion, this is one of those facilities which were given to them for their representation in the Legislative Assembly. In this connection, reference may be made to Oraon Religion and Customs by Shri Sarat Chandra Roy (1928 edition) in which a description is given of the Christian Movement at page 336. I would do no better than to quote a passage from that book in this connection.

“Whatever considerations might have led these earliest converts to accept the new religion, most available outside reports, official as well as nonofficial, would appear to indicate that this (Gossner's Evangelical Lutheran Mission) and fie later Christian Missions in Chota Nagpur owe much of the wonderful progress they have since made among the Oraons and some other aboriginal tribes in less than a century, to the moral support and in many cases pecuniary and other assistance which the generous European missionaries raturally extended to their converts in their manifold miseries. They helped them as much as they could in their struggle against the oppressions of exacting, and, in not a few cases, tyrannical landlords and usurious moneylenders as also against persecution at the hands of their Own tribe-fellows in the cases of suspected witches and their families…………………………… Now the Oraons saw that whereas their old gods and spirits could afford no relief or protection against their manifold economic miseries nor-could the Bhakti cults (whether Mahadeo Bhakti, or Visnu Bhakti or Kabir Bhakti) be of much help to them in their worldly struggles, here were the converts to the foreign faith and the proteges of the foreign missionaries who secured more or less protection from future molestation, though not always relief from existing troubles. They further found that the children of their Christian converts considerably improved their economic condition and prospects through the secular education imparted in the Mission Schools and the powerful patronage of influential missionaries. All this naturally induced the Oraons to flock in increasing numbers to the Christian fold. At times of acute economic distress or agrarian discontent there were phenomenal mass conversions to Christianity among the Oraons. A number of the converts, however, relapsed to their old ways, some after their temporal interests were more or less served, and others when they found that the high expectations they had formed of improving their own economic condition and securing relief from their agrarian grievances with the aid of the missionaries could not be realised. The descendants of such of the converts as clung to the new religion have, however, in most cases, proved themselves genuine Christians in faith, if not always in practice…………………………………………………

27. The Christian missionaries wisely permitted their Oraon converts to retain some of their tribal customs, such as exogamy based on tolemistic lineage and certain other cherished folk customs and observances such as ceremonial eating of firs fruits, certain rites at harvest and sowing of paddy, and certain observances at birth and marriage, which did not conflict with the cardinal tenets of the Christian faith”.

28. Reference may also be made to the Oraons of Chota Nagpur by Shri S.C Roy C1915 edition), page 485, which gives the Oraon population in Bihar and Orissa. First it gives the figures of Hindu males and females Oraons and of animist males and females Oraons of the different States. Then it states that besides these there are 55, 594 males and 57, 144 females returned as Christians, namely, in the Santal Parganas (2+3); Hazaribagh (8+6); Ranchi (43,438+45,209); Palmau (3.680+3,660); Manbhum (22+16); Singhbhum (212+231) and Orissa State (8,232+8,019). Thus, it appears that, though an Oraon is not an animist and is of Hindu faith or of Christian faltn, he is taken as an Oraon in this book for finding out the population of the Oraons in Bihar and Orissa. In other words, the Christian Oraons have not been omitted from being included in the population of the Oraons in those two States.

29. Paragraph 6 of Appendix 32 of the Report of the Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for the year 1961-1962 (Eleventh Report), Part II, deals with the concession allowed to scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in the matter of employment under the Government of India. It states that in the case of Scheduled Tribes, however, religion is immaterial, and a member of a scheduled Tribe continues to be one even though he may change his religion. Thus, for the purposes of employment no distinction is made amongst the Scheduled Tribes on the ground of religion and as such, the Christian and the non-Christian Oraons stand on the same fooling as belonging to Schedules Tribes for the purposes of such employment.

30. Similarly, in paragraph 31 of Chapter 2 of the report of the Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes Commission, 1960-61, Volume I, at page 12, it is stated that a large number of Oraons have been converted to Christianity. Even after conversion they observe the totemic clan divisions, but the institution of dormitory is gradually dying out among the Christian Oraons, though attempts have been made to revive it. Paragraph 86 of that Chapter at page 19 says as follows:

“Tribal religion varies as much as tribal social: custom or tribal law. Some of the tribals are Buddhists and have been so for centuries. Some have become Christians in comparatively recent times, others worship Hindu Gods and follow a simplified form of the Hindu religion. Yet again, others still follow the faith of their ancestors……”

31. Shri D.N Majumdar in his book named “Races and Cultures of India”, at page 369, states as follows:

“A tribe like a caste of the lower order, today follows an occupation in many areas. Thus vie get hunting, pastoral and agricultural tribes. The tribal returns recorded in the Census of 1931 reveal a heterogeneous category including Muslim tribes of Pathans, Baluchis, Brahuis or Mapilias, comparatively primitive tribes like the Toda or Mcabarese who still worship their own tribal deities; those who have become partly Hinduized like most of the Bhils and Gonds where the tribal name is on the way to become a caste name, those largely Christianized like the Oraon or the Lushai and others wholly Hindus, like the Manipuri but retaining their distinctive language and culture”.

32. At page 371-72 he says:

“A tribe forbids its members to marry outside the tribe; the same is the case with caste. Intercaste marriages do take place, inter-tribal marriages are also blown, the Oraon Munda the Kharia Munda of the Ranchi District providing such examples”.

33. Reference may also be made to a debate in the Lok Sabha on the 1st of March 1961, with respect to Adivasis, which has also been reproduced in the judgment of the Election Tribunal. It appears that a question was raised that the conversion of a member of a tribe to a particular religion should he taken into account in deciding the question, whether or not he or she would remain a tribal. The Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Shrimati Alva, observed as follows:

“I may also point out to Shri Prakash Vir Shastri that where one talks of Adivasis, one has to bear in mind that religion is not a factor to be taken into consideration. I want to reiterate this that in the case of a Scheduled Caste person being converted, he loses his caste, but in the case of the Adivasi, he remains an Adivasi, whether he is a Budhist, or whether he becomes a Christian or a Muslim, he remains an Adivasi. Therefore, religion does not matter in the case of an Adivasi”.

34. A Bench of this Court, in Jena Uraon v. Johan Oraon, Second Appeal No. 1573 of 1948, disposed of on 17-1-1951 (Pat) while dealing with the question of inheritance amongst the Oraons, took the view that the word ‘Oraon’ in its ordinary connotation refers only to the members of a race or sect of tribe and has no religious significance.

35. In Chaturbhuj Vithaldas v. Moreshwar Parashram, 9 Ele LR 301 : (AIR 1954 SC 236) the Supreme Court held that conversion of a Mahar into a Mahanubhava imports only an intellectual acceptance of certain ideological tenets and does not alter the convert's status as a member of a Scheduled Caste, at any rate, so far as the householder section of the Mahanubhava Panth is concerned. In that case one Gangaram Thaware stood as a candidate from the Scheduled Caste and his nomination was rejected on the ground that he did not belong to the Scheduled Caste in question, namely, Mahar, and the question to be decided in that case was whether he ceased to be a Mahar when he joined the Mahanubhava Panth. In that connection their Lordships pointed out that what they had to determine were the social and political consequence of such conversion and their Lordships felt that the same must be decided in a common sense practical way rather than on theoretical and theorcratic grounds.

36. Their Lordships observed that if the old order was tolerant of the new faith and saw no reason to outcast or excommunicate the convert and the individual himself desired and intended to retain his old social and political ties, the conversion was only nominal for all practical purposes and when they had to consider the legal and political rights of the old body the views of the new faith hardly mattered; and that the new body was free to ostracise and outcaste the convert from its fold if he did not adhere to its tenets, but it could hardly claim the right to interfere in matters which concerned the political rights of the old body when neither the old body nor the convert was seeking either legal or political favours from the new as opposed to purely spiritual advantage.

37. It was further observed that, on the other hand, if the convert had shown by his conduct and dealings that his break from the old order was so complete and final that he no longer regarded himself as a member of the old body and there was no reconversion and readmittance to the old fold, it would be wrong to hold that he could nevertheless claim temporal privileges and political advantages which were special to the old order. Their Lordships quoting with approval the observation made in Abraham v. Abraham, 9 Moo Ind App 195 (199) (PC) that a convert “may renounce the old law by which he was bound, as he has renounced his old religion, or, if he thinks fit, he may abide by the old law, notwithstanding he has renounced the old religion” observed that the only modification there was that it was not only his choice which must be taken into account but also the views of the body whose religious tenets he had renounced, because there 9 Ele LR 301 : (AIR 1954 SC 236) the right they were considering was the right of the old body, the right conferred on it as a special privilege to send a member of its own fold to Parliament; but with that modification the following observations applied in their broad outline:

“The profession of Christianity releases the convert from the trammels of the Hindu law, but it does not of necessity involve any change of the rights or relations of the convert in matters with which Christianity has no concern, such as his rights and interests in, and his powers over, property. The convert, though not bound as to such matters, either by the Hindu law or by any other positive law may by his course of conduct after his conversion have shown by what law he intended to be governed as to these matters. He may have done so either by attaching himself to a class which as to these matters has adopted and acted upon some particular law, or by having himself observed some family usage or custom; and nothing can surely be more just than that the rights and interests in his property, and his powers over it, should be governed by the law which he has adopted, or the rules which he has observed.”

38. In Wilson Reade v. C.S Booth, 14 Ele LR 480 : (AIR 1958 Assam 128) a case from the Assam High Court, the father of the appellant was an Englishman who married a Khasi Woman. The appellant had never seen his father. He had from his childhood lived among the Khasis, and excepting a daughter of his, who had married a Bengali and another who married an American, all his children were married to Khasis. The appellant himself had married a Khasi woman. He alleged further that under the practice prevalent among the Khasi Tribal people, any one who was born of a Khasi mother was regarded as a member of the Khasi tribs. The appellant occupied an important position among the Khasis and was a founder member and a member of the executive committee of a political organisation called the “Khasi National Durbar”, which came into existence in 1923. He was also a member and treasurer of the District Tribal Union which was a branch of the Eastern India Tribal Union, and an elector and treasurer of the Federation of the Khasi States. He was also a candidate both for the Parliament and the State Legislative Assembly of Assam as a member of the Khasi tribe and had filed his nomination in the last election, and this was accepted.

39. His nomination for the election in question was rejected and the rejection was upheld by the Tribunal on the ground that he was not a Khasi of pure blood and was an Anglo-Indian and that, at any rate, he had, claiming that he was an Anglo-Indian, enjoyed the privileges of an Anglo-Indian by joining the Auxiliary Force and so forfeited his right to be regarded as a Khasi. It was held that, on the evidence adduced in the case, the appellant was a member of the Khasi tribes, and that, assuming that the appellant was an Anglo-Indian and had claimed and enjoyed the privileges of an Anglo-Indian, that did not debar him from claiming that he was also a member of the Khasi Tribe and seeking election for the seat reserved for the Khasi tribe.

40. The decisions referred to above are fully applicable to the facts of the present case. It has been found in this case, as already observed, that the Christian Oraons also observed some of the festivals which are not in direct conflict with the religion of Christianity and they are called, not Indian Christians, but Christian Oraons. It further appears from the evidence discussed above of the appellant himself that there can be a marriage between a non-Christian Oraon and the girl of a Christian Oraon and their descendehts are treated as tribals. According to the evidence of the appellant, it also appears that if a tribal converted to Christianity maintains the tribal ways of life in all matters, he remains a tribal. The Christian tribals are also writing as their surname the names of their tribe and khoont.

41. It is further admitted in his evidence that an Oraon, such as Tana Bhagats, does not cease to be an Oraon because he does not sacrifice fowls or animals at the time of Puja without which no puja could be complete among the Oraons. From the evidence of P.W 3 it further appears that Christian Oraons are also invited to feasts held by non-christian Oraons and the Christian Oraons join such feasts. It has also been found that the two respondents, though they are Christian Oraons, occupied important position among the Oraons, both Christians and non-christians.

42. The respondent is an active member of an institution called Adivasi Unnati Samaj established for the improvement of the conditions of the tribals, both Christians and non-christians and he is the President of that institution. Both Christian and non-Christian Oraons have faith in him for their uplift work and are members of that institution. It has also been found that respondent No. 2 was elected and remained a member of the Parliament in the election previous to the election in question as representing the tribals without any objection being raised by anyone. On the principle of law enunciated in the decisions referred to above and on the authorities considered above, it appears to me that I Christian Oraons are Oraons in spite of their con-I version and are entitled to the rights and privileges of the tribals. On a consideration of the evidence and the law on the subject, my concluded opinion, therefore, is that both the respondents are Oraons and they were entitled to contest the Parliamentary seat reserved for the Scheduled Tribes. There is thus no merit in this appeal, which is, accordingly, dismissed with costs payable to respondent No. 1 only and the judgment and order of the Election Tribunal dismissing the election petition of the appellant is affirmed. Hearing fee is assessed as Rs. 250.00 nP. (Rupees Two Hundred and fifty only).

A.B.N Sinha, J.:— I agree.

AH/M/D.V.C

43. Appeal dismissed.