SC upholds Sadique’s election as MLA

R Sedhuraman

Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, April 29

The Supreme Court today upheld the election of Mohammad Sadique as the Congress MLA from Bhadaur Assembly constituency in Punjab, reserved for the Scheduled Caste, in the January 2012 poll.

A Bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Prafulla C Pant set aside the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s judgment of April 7, 2015, holding that Sadique, being a Muslim, could not have contested from a constituency reserved for SCs. Akali Dal candidate Darbara Singh Guru had challenged the election.

It pointed out that Sadique had embraced the Sikh religion in 2006, and got this fact published in newspapers. 

Prior to this, he had got an SC certificate issued showing him as belonging to the ‘Doom’ community, which came under the SC category.

“Admittedly, the appellant was born to Muslim parents. However, he has proved that his family followed Islam but belonged to the Doom community. It is settled law that a person can change his religion and faith, but not the caste to which he belongs as caste has linkage to birth,” the apex court held.

Sadique pleaded that he did not change his name as he had become a popular singer, but followed the Sikh rites and traditions. The SC ruled that “it is not essential to change one’s name after embracing a different faith. However, such change in name can be a corroborating fact.”