The Supreme Court has ruled that individuals who convert from Hinduism to Islam cannot claim reservation benefits as Backward Class Muslims merely because they belonged to a socially backward community before conversion. Upholding the Madras High Court’s decision to invalidate a Tamil Nadu government order permitting such recognition, the Court dismissed the State government’s appeal.
A Bench of Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Shree Chandrashekhar held that social backwardness associated with a person’s earlier religious identity cannot automatically establish eligibility for affirmative action under Article 16(4) of the Constitution after conversion to another religion.
The ruling concerns a Tamil Nadu government order dated March 9, 2024, which permitted individuals belonging to Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes, Denotified Communities and Scheduled Castes to be recognised as Backward Class Muslims following their conversion to Islam.
Backward Status Cannot Automatically Continue After Conversion
The Supreme Court explained that eligibility for reservation benefits must be determined with reference to the backward class recognised within the religion a person has adopted, rather than solely on the basis of the person’s position in the previous religious community.
The Bench observed that a person leaving the Hindu social order for a non-Hindu religion cannot rely exclusively on historical social disadvantages to claim benefits under Article 16(4).
According to the Court, backwardness experienced before religious conversion does not, by itself, establish membership of a notified backward class in the new religion.
The judges also referred to paragraph 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, which restricts Scheduled Caste recognition to persons professing Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism.
The Court held that an individual converting to a religion outside these three religions loses the Scheduled Caste status associated with the person’s earlier caste and cannot continue claiming affirmative action benefits on the basis of that status.
Reconversion Does Not Automatically Restore Earlier Status
The Supreme Court further clarified that returning to Hinduism after converting to another religion does not automatically revive a person’s previous backward class status for reservation purposes.
It held that eligibility under Article 16(4) following reconversion cannot be decided merely by examining the individual’s caste or community before the original conversion.
The Court emphasised that earlier social backwardness, standing alone, cannot serve as the legal basis for recognition as a member of a different notified backward community.
Dispute Over Community Certificate
The case originated from an application submitted by Sameer Ahamed N, formerly known as Paramasivam, who was born to Hindu parents in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi district.
Ahamed converted to Islam in 2015, adopted a new name and married according to Islamic customs.
He subsequently sought a community certificate recognising him as belonging to the Muslim Lebbai community, one of seven Muslim sects identified as Backward Class Muslims under a State government order.
The Tahsildar rejected his request, prompting Ahamed to approach the Madras High Court. He sought recognition of his continued entitlement to backward community status despite his religious conversion.
The High Court dismissed his petition and also declared the Tamil Nadu government’s March 9, 2024 order unconstitutional.
Madras High Court’s Decision Upheld
While examining the dispute, the Madras High Court had distinguished between an individual’s freedom to adopt Islam and a claim to membership of a particular community within Islam for reservation purposes.
It held that religious conversion could not, by itself, establish a person’s entitlement to recognition within a caste or community eligible for reservation.
The High Court also described the government order as unconstitutional and inconsistent with Islamic principles, noting that equality rather than social hierarchy formed a central tenet of the religion.
The Tamil Nadu government challenged that judgment before the Supreme Court.
Rejecting the State’s appeal, the Supreme Court upheld the High Court’s decision striking down the government order and reaffirmed that pre-conversion backward class status alone cannot determine entitlement to reservation benefits after religious conversion.
