SC Rules Conversion to Islam Does Not Guarantee Backward Class Reservation
In a significant ruling on reservation, the Supreme Court on Thursday held that a person converting to Islam cannot claim reservation under a Backward Class category solely on the basis of their caste or community status before conversion.
A bench comprising Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Shree Chandrashekhar observed that social backwardness associated with the Hindu social order cannot automatically be carried over to a non-Hindu social order following religious conversion.
The Supreme Court dismissed the Tamil Nadu government’s plea challenging a Madras High Court order that had ruled against granting Backward Class (Muslim) status to individuals solely on the basis of their conversion to Islam.
The apex court upheld the High Court’s decision to quash a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted individuals from Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes, Denotified Communities and Scheduled Castes who converted to Islam to obtain community certificates under the Backward Class (Muslim) category, covering seven notified Muslim sects.
The Tamil Nadu government had argued that socially and educationally backward individuals should not lose reservation benefits merely because they changed their religion.
However, the Supreme Court clarified that conversion to a non-Hindu social order does not automatically confer membership of a notified backward class community. It further observed that reservation benefits dependent on membership of a particular social order cannot be claimed solely on the basis of a person’s previous caste or community status after conversion to Islam, Christianity or another non-Hindu religion.
The bench also addressed the question of reconversion, stating that a person who returns to the Hindu social order cannot automatically reclaim reservation benefits based on their earlier status. Such claims must be assessed independently, considering whether the original caste or social identity has genuinely been restored and whether the applicable constitutional and legal requirements have been fulfilled.
The ruling upholds the Madras High Court’s decision and clarifies that religious conversion alone does not establish eligibility for reservation under a notified backward class category.
