New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday, October 15, ruled that a person who converts from Hinduism to Islam cannot claim reservation by citing the backward caste he belonged to before conversion, upholding a Madras High Court verdict that struck down a Tamil Nadu government order.
A bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Shree Chandrashekhar dismissed the state’s appeal against the High Court’s judgment delivered in June.
The government order (GO), issued on March 9, 2024, allowed people from Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes (MBC), Denotified Communities and Scheduled Castes (SC) who embraced Islam to be treated as Backward Class Muslims. This let them get community certificates under one of seven Muslim groups listed as backward in the state and claim quota benefits.
What the Supreme Court said
The bench said backwardness linked to a person’s caste among Hindus could not be “carried forward” into the religion he adopts.
Article 16(4) of the Constitution allows the state to reserve government jobs for backward classes that are not adequately represented. The court said such a person cannot seek reservation under it merely on the basis of his pre-conversion status.
It also cited the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, under which only Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists can be treated as members of a Scheduled Caste. A Dalit who converts to Islam therefore loses SC status and the benefits tied to it, the bench said.
The court added that a person who later returns to Hinduism would not automatically regain his earlier backward status. His eligibility cannot be decided merely by looking at his old caste, it said.
How the case began
The case started with a plea by Sameer Ahamed, formerly Paramasivam, who was born to Hindu parents in Thoothukudi district. He converted to Islam in 2015, changed his name and married as per Islamic rituals.
Relying on the 2024 GO, he applied for a certificate identifying him as a “Muslim Lebbai,” one of the seven Backward Class Muslim groups. When the tahsildar rejected his application, he moved the High Court.
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court dismissed his petition and went on to examine the GO itself. It held that a person could convert to Islam but not into a particular caste or community within it. It noted that communities such as Labbai, Rowther and Marakkayar were based on birth.
The High Court called the order “not only unconstitutional but also un-Islamic,” saying Islam is founded on equality and not social hierarchy. It also found the GO arbitrary for putting converts from SC, BC, MBC and denotified communities into a single group. It held that an executive order cannot override binding court rulings.
Before the High Court, the state had defended the order. It said the order followed a recommendation of the Tamil Nadu Backward Classes Commission and was meant to ensure that those already getting reservation did not lose it by converting.
| 
