The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has clarified that having a picture of Jesus Christ in a home doesn't automatically signify a conversion to Christianity.

On October 10, a two-judge panel comprising Justices Prithviraj Chavan and Urmila Joshi Phalke granted permission for a petition filed by a 17-year-old girl. This petition challenged a ruling issued in September 2022 by the Amravati District Caste Certificate Scrutiny Committee, which had declared her caste as 'Mahar' to be invalid. The report from the committee's vigilance officer should be dismissed outright because it is evident that the petitioner's family adheres to Buddhist traditions, as stated.

The decision to nullify her caste claim was made following an inquiry by the committee's vigilance cell. This inquiry revealed that the petitioner's father and grandfather had converted to Christianity, and a photograph of Jesus Christ was discovered displayed in their home.

The committee had stated that because they had converted to Christianity, they should be categorized as part of the Other Backward Classes.

The petitioner girl asserted that the photograph of Jesus Christ had been given to them as a gift, and they had merely placed it on display in their home.

The court stated that it is unreasonable to assume or believe that the mere presence of a photograph of Jesus Christ in a house automatically indicates that a person has converted to Christianity.

The court explained that baptism is a Christian sacrament in which a person is formally received into the Church and, at times, given a Christian name. This typically involves anointing the candidate with or immersing them in water.

The High Court pointed out that the vigilance cell officer made an assumption about the petitioner's family's religious affiliation based solely on the presence of a photograph of Lord Jesus Christ during his visit to their house.

The High Court asserted that the report of the vigilance officer should be dismissed outright because it is evident that the petitioner's family follows Buddhist traditions.

The petitioner presented 'Mahar' caste certificates that had been previously issued to her father, grandfather, and other blood relatives as part of her case. To support her claim of belonging to the 'Mahar' scheduled caste, she had also provided a pre-constitutional document, an extract from a book as part of her evidence.

The bench noted that the committee had made the pre-constitutional document irrelevant or useless in this case.

The High Court questioned the committee's actions, asking what additional evidence it needed to consider. It criticized the committee for seemingly ignoring a significant document and the three validity certificates it had previously granted to the petitioner's blood relatives.

The bench overturned the scrutiny committee's order and instructed them to issue a caste validity certificate to the petitioner, recognizing her as belonging to the 'Mahar' (Scheduled Caste) category within a two-week timeframe.