The Supreme Court on Thursday (October 15) upheld a Madras High Court judgment ruling that a person converting to Islam cannot claim backward class reservation solely on the basis of their caste or community status before conversion.
A bench comprising Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Shree Chandrashekhar dismissed the Tamil Nadu government's challenge to the High Court's decision, which had struck down a 2024 government order allowing people converting to Islam from certain caste categories to obtain backward class community certificates.
The Supreme Court clarified that conversion does not automatically entitle a person to membership of a notified backward class community in their new religious order.
The bench observed: "A person who converts to Islam by that act alone doesn't become a member of one of the seven notified backward class social communities in the State. His former caste status can't be transposed to the Muslim backward class category, nor can his private religious body conclusively determine such status entitlement."
What the Supreme Court said on reservation after conversion
The court held that a person's social backwardness in their former religious community cannot, by itself, establish eligibility for reservation in a different community after conversion.
It also clarified that under the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, a person professing a religion other than Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism cannot be recognised as a member of a Scheduled Caste. Consequently, conversion to a religion outside these categories results in the loss of Scheduled Caste status and benefits linked to that status.
The bench further stated that conversion to a non-Hindu religion does not automatically grant membership of any particular backward class community. In cases of reconversion to Hinduism, eligibility for affirmative action would require an independent, fact-specific assessment of whether the person's original caste identity had genuinely revived and whether the applicable legal requirements had been met.
Why the Madras High Court struck down the Tamil Nadu order
The dispute arose from a government order issued on March 9, 2024, by the Tamil Nadu Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes and Minorities Welfare Department. It allowed people converting to Islam from Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes, Denotified Communities or Scheduled Castes to be treated as BC (Muslim) and obtain certificates under one of seven notified Muslim communities.
These communities are Ansar, Dekkani Muslims, Dubekula, Labbais, including Rowthar and Marakayar, Mapilla, Sheik and Syed.
The Madras High Court had declared the order unconstitutional, holding that it contradicted earlier judicial pronouncements that a person converting to Islam could only be treated as a Muslim.
How the case reached the Supreme Court
The matter originated with Sameer Ahamed, who converted from Hinduism to Islam in 2015. A gazette notification confirming the conversion was issued in 2016. He subsequently married according to Islamic rites and customs and had two children.
When Sameer applied for a community certificate identifying him as belonging to the Muslim Lebbai community, the Tahsildar rejected his application. He challenged the decision, relying on the 2024 government order.
The Tamil Nadu government defended the order, arguing that it followed a recommendation from the Tamil Nadu Backward Classes Commission dated February 6, 2024. The state maintained that the measure was intended to ensure that people who had already benefited from reservation did not lose those benefits after converting to Islam.
After the Madras High Court struck down the order, the state approached the Supreme Court through a special leave petition filed on July 6. The Supreme Court has now upheld the High Court's judgment.