Man Who Set Himself Ablaze In Madras HC Over Denial Of Tribal Certificate To Son Actually Belonged To SC Community: State Claims

The bench of Acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice Krishnakumar had previously directed the District Revenue Officer to conduct a field enquiry and ascertain the facts related to the caste of the deceased Velmurugan. It was initially alleged that the authorities had failed to provide Velmurugan a community certificate for his son even after he made repeated rounds of the office, following which he attempted suicide.

Today, AAG J Ravindran submitted the status report informing the court that the District Revenue Officer had conducted a detailed enquiry as per the directions of the court. He had sought information from the neighbours, school authorities and villagers of the deceased who confirmed that he belonged to Hindu Kuravan (SC) community. The villagers also confirmed that the ancestors of the deceased also belonged to this community.

The DRO then conducted inquiry in the village where the deceased currently resided. He also took statements from the school authorities where the children of the deceased were studying. The school authorities stated that though at the time of admission, the children's community was given as Malaikuravan, no documents were given in support of it.

Significantly, Velmurugan's son had annexed the community certificate of his paternal uncle, Elangovan to substantiate his claim. However, when details were sought from the said uncle, he denied having any relation to the deceased and stated that he had not handed over copy of his community certificate to the deceased.

Though the family of the deceased raised certain objection to the status report, the court orally remarked that an unfortunate incident should not be used for publicity.

Taking the Status report into consideration, the court adjourned the matter till tomorrow for further hearing.

Case Title: Suo Moto v. State of Tamil Nadu and others

Case No: Suo Mou WP No. 27655 of 2022