Convert to Islam cannot claim Backward Class Muslim quota on basis of earlier caste: SC
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court has upheld a Madras High Court ruling that a person who converts from Hinduism to Islam cannot claim reservation benefits under Tamil Nadu’s Backward Class (Muslim) category solely on the basis of the backward caste or community he belonged to before conversion.
A bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Shree Chandrashekhar dismissed the Tamil Nadu government’s appeal against the High Court’s June judgment, which had struck down a 2024 state government order as unconstitutional.
The state order, issued on March 9, 2024, had allowed persons from Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes, Denotified Communities and Scheduled Castes who embraced Islam to be treated as Backward Class Muslims. It enabled them to obtain community certificates under one of seven Muslim communities notified as backward in the state and claim reservation benefits.
The Supreme Court held that backwardness linked to caste within the Hindu social order cannot be “carried forward” into another religion after conversion. It said a person does not, merely by converting to Islam, become a member of any of the seven notified Backward Class Muslim communities in Tamil Nadu.
The bench observed that no statutory benefit, protection, reservation or entitlement under Article 16(4) of the Constitution, which depends on a particular Hindu social order, can be claimed after conversion to Islam, Christianity or any other non-Hindu religion merely on the basis of the person’s earlier status.
The court also referred to the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, under which only Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists can be recognised as members of a Scheduled Caste. It said a Dalit who converts to Islam consequently loses Scheduled Caste status and the benefits attached to it.
The court further said that a person who later returns to Hinduism would not automatically regain his earlier backward class status, as eligibility cannot be determined solely on the basis of his former caste.
The case was filed by Sameer Ahamed, formerly known as Paramasivam, who was born to Hindu parents in Thoothukudi district. He converted to Islam in 2015, changed his name and married according to Islamic rituals.
Relying on the 2024 government order, Ahamed had applied for a certificate identifying him as a “Muslim Lebbai”, one of the seven Backward Class Muslim communities. After the tahsildar rejected his application, he approached the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court.
The High Court dismissed his plea and went on to examine the government order itself. It held that while a person could convert to Islam, he could not convert into a particular caste or community within the religion, noting that communities such as Labbai, Rowther and Marakkayar were based on birth.
The High Court described the order as “not only unconstitutional but also un-Islamic”, saying Islam was founded on equality rather than social hierarchy. It also held the order arbitrary for placing converts from Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes and Denotified Communities in a single category, and said an executive order could not override binding judicial precedents.
The Tamil Nadu government had defended the order, saying it was based on a recommendation of the state Backward Classes Commission and was intended to ensure that persons already receiving reservation benefits did not lose them after conversion.