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Synopsis

The Bombay High Court has recently observed that having a photograph of Jesus Christ in one's house does not imply conversion to Christianity.

The observation was made by the division bench of the Nagpur High Court, consisting of Justice Prithviraj Chauhan and Justice Urmila Joshi Phalke, during the hearing of a petition filed by a minor girl challenging the district caste scrutiny committee's report, which had denied her a caste certificate.

“Merely because the officer of the Vigilance Cell, during his visit to the house of the petitioner, noticed a photograph of Lord Jesus Christ, he assumed that the petitioner’s family professes Christian religion,” the order reads.

The minor girl had approached the high court after the scrutiny committee refused to issue her a caste certificate, stating that she belonged to the 'Mahar' community.

The scrutiny committee denied the caste certificate after the vigil cell of the committee discovered a picture of Jesus Christ in her house. The committee asserted that the girl's father and grandfather had converted to Christianity.

The minor girl, in her response to the bench, explained that she practised Buddhism and should be certified as a member of the 'Mahar' community, which is recognized as a scheduled caste under the Constitution.

She further clarified to the court that she had received the picture of Jesus Christ as a gift and therefore displayed it in her house.

The division bench found that there was no evidence to substantiate the claim that the girl's father and grandfather had converted to Christianity. Additionally, the bench discovered that the family's marriages had been conducted in accordance with Buddhist rituals.

The bench while quashing and setting aside the order of the scrutiny committee and directing the committee to issue a certificate observed that,

“This so called report of the Vigilance Officer merits to be discarded at the threshold being figment of his imagination, more particularly in light of the tradition of Buddhism being followed by petitioner’s family sans any material to contradict the claim of the petitioner,” the bench observed.  

Case title: XYZ vs State of Maharashtra & Ors.