SC upholds Madras HC ruling denying reservation benefits to converts
What's the story
The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that individuals converting from Hinduism to non-Hindu religions cannot claim backward class reservation based on their pre-conversion caste status, upholding a Madras High Court ruling. The High Court order had struck down a Tamil Nadu government order (GO) that allowed persons from Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes, denotified communities, and Scheduled Castes to be treated as Backward Class Muslims after converting to Islam.
Status clarification
What the court said
Today, a bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Shree Chandrashekhar dismissed the Tamil Nadu government's challenge against the high court's order, saying, "A person who converts from the Hindu social order to a non-Hindu social order cannot claim affirmative action under Article 16(4) of the Constitution merely on the basis of the social backwardness associated with his pre-conversion status."
Bench
SC status cannot be extended to non Hindus, Buddhists
The bench said that backwardness suffered in the antecedent social order "cannot by itself be carried forward so as to confer upon him the status of a backward class in the religion to which he has converted."
It also observed that the Constitution (Schedule Castes) Order of 1950 recognizes that Scheduled Caste status cannot be extended to persons who are not Hindus, Buddhists or Sikhs.
SC
What happens if a convert later reconverts
"Consequently, a person converted to a religion not specified therein, such person ceases to possess the Scheduled Caste status attached to his antecedent caste and cannot claim any affirmative action benefit of a backward class," the bench added.
The court went on to state that even if a convert later reconverts to Hinduism, he is not automatically entitled to reclaim his pre-conversion backward status.
Legal dispute
Case began with government order in 2024
The case revolved around a government order from March 9, 2024, which allowed persons from Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes, denotified communities, and Scheduled Castes to be treated as Backward Class Muslims after converting to Islam.
The High Court was hearing a plea by one Sameer Ahamed (formerly Paramasivam), who had converted from the Hindu religion to Islam in 2015.
He later applied for community certificate identifying him as 'Muslim Lebbai,' one of seven sects recognized as Backward Class Muslims.
Caste debate
Madras HC termed GO unconstitutional
But the application was rejected by the Tahsildar.
He then approached the Madras High Court, which dismissed his plea and declared the state's GO as "not only unconstitutional but also un-Islamic," observing that Islam's core theological principle was equality and not social hierarchy.
The High Court held that a person can convert to Islam, but not to a caste or community within Islam, for reservation purposes.