Skin colour no proof of caste status: Madras High Court

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court observed that a person’s community status cannot be determined from his complexion, height, physique, language proficiency or hair type; instead, acceptance from the members of the caste concerned is what matters.

Judge D Bharatha Chakravarthy made the observation while hearing a petition by M Ravikumar, an assistant commissioner of Customs, challenging a district-level vigilance committee’s order holding his Hindu Adi Dravidar community certificate as “not genuine.”

Ravikumar stated that his father, who originally belonged to the Hindu Adi Dravidar community, converted to Christianity in 1960.

Ravikumar was born in 1966 and, in 1983, he and his father reconverted to Hinduism at the Arya Samaj centre in Chennai.

His father’s name was changed from R Ayyavoo James to R Munusamy, while his name was changed from A Soundararajan to M Ravikumar. He was subsequently issued a Hindu Adi Dravidar community certificate in 1986.

On May 4, 2026, the district-level vigilance committee held that the certificate was not genuine, despite Ravikumar stating that his marriage as well as his daughter’s marriage were solemnised as per Hindu rites and customs.

While questioning the genuineness of his certificate, the committee noted that Ravikumar and his family members were of fair complexion, the men were tall and had good physiques, spoke both Tamil and English, and had curly hair.

The High Court observed there was no dispute that Ravikumar belonged to a Scheduled Caste, but the issue was whether his reconversion from Christianity to Hinduism was genuine or not.

The court held that if the members of the caste accepted him after reconversion, he would be entitled to the community certificate.

Observing that the committee’s findings were not supported by concrete reasons, the court set aside their order and directed Ravikumar to resubmit documents, photographs and other materials to prove that he follows Hinduism within four weeks.