New Delhi [India], October 15 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the Madras High Court decision that a person who has converted to Islam was not entitled to Backwards Class (BC) reservation.
A bench of Justices PK Mishra and Shree Chandrashekhar said a person who converts from the Hindu social order to a non-Hindu social order cannot claim such benefits.
The Tamil Nadu government has approached the Supreme Court against the High Court order which had quashed its decision recognising seven Backward Class Muslim sects, which allowed persons from backward classes to be treated as Backward Class Muslims after converting to Islam.
“A person who converts from 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,” the bench said while dismissing the State’s plea.
The bench further noted that the 1950 Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order restricts Scheduled Caste status to persons professing Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism.
It added, “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. By virtue of paragraph 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes Order), a person who professes a religion other than Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism cannot be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste.”
Tamil Nadu has contended that the State government's order of March 9, 2024, was to ensure that persons belonging to socially and educationally backward communities are not deprived of reservation benefits solely on account of conversion to Islam.
The appeal was filed against the June 25 judgement that struck down a March 2024 state Government Order (GO) that said a convert to Islam from Backwards Classes, Most Backwards Classes, Denotified Communities or Scheduled Castes may be treated as BC (Muslim) for availing reservation.
The GO had said that the person be issued with a community certificate as belonging to one of the 7 notified sects for availing reservation upon conversion.
The High Court in its judgement had held that the GO was strictly against the judicial pronouncements made by the High Court and the Supreme Court, holding that a person converting to Islam could only be treated as a Muslim.
The High Court had also noted that Christian missionaries as well as Islamic preachers had maintained that their religions offered social equality, unlike Hinduism, which had a caste hierarchy.
The order had come on a petition filed by Sameer Ahamed, who embraced Islam in 2015 and changed his name and married as per the adopted religion.
Relying on the 2024 GO, he applied for a community certificate identifying him as a ‘Muslim Lebbai’, one of the seven Backwards Class Muslim communities recognised under the Tamil Nadu GO. After his application was rejected by the Tehsildar, Sameer approached the High Court, placing reliance on the same GO in support of his claim.
The State government had argued that the GO was passed after detailed deliberation, and it was passed only to ensure that those who already enjoyed the benefits of reservation would not lose it on account of conversion to Islam.
The social balance would not be affected by granting a reservation to such persons, which the State had submitted before the High Court.
The appeal has been filed in the apex court by the secretary to the state government against the High Court's decision, which declared unconstitutional the GO issued on March 9, 2024. (ANI)
SC upholds Madras HC order quashing backward class reservation for Islam converts
