HC: Lingayat and Ganiga notmutually exclusive identities

Bengaluru: A person described as "Lingayat" in ancestral records may, upon proof, establish Ganiga identity within that fold, the Karnataka High Court has observed."Lingayat" and "Ganiga" are not mutually exclusive identities. Ganiga may subsist as a distinct caste group within the broader Lingayat fold, Justice Suraj Govindaraj said in his recent order.
Police constable TN Jagadeesh, working in Mysuru and aspiring for a sub-inspector post, contended that one Rajakumar Y Bilagi from Bagalkot falsely claimed that he belonged to the Lingayat Ganiga community, which is classified under category 2A, and got selected as a PSI. Jagadeesh belongs to the Vishwakarma community, which is also classified under category 2A of OBC.According to him, the commissioner of the backward classes welfare department should not have relied on the school records of Rajkumar wherein the word Ganiga was inserted, thereby making it appear as Hindu Ganiga Lingayat.The school records of the father, brother, sister, and other close relatives of Rajkumar uniformly reflected their caste as "Hindu Lingayat", he added.However, Justice Govindaraj pointed out that the deputy commissioner considered the school records of Rajkumar and the transfer certificate wherein it was mentioned as Ganiga, and the caste certificates issued to family members corroborated the same.The cumulative documentary evidence satisfactorily established that Rajakumar belongs to the Ganiga community under category 2A, the Judge added while dismissing the petition.The dismissal of the writ petition shall not be construed as foreclosing any action that may be permissible in law if credible material demonstrating fraud, fabrication, or misrepresentation surfaces in future proceedings before a competent forum.It is clarified that the judgment does not lay down any proposition that a mere assertion of sub-caste identity within the Lingayat fold is sufficient to claim reservation.