Tamil Nadu govt. defends State’s power to provide quota to Muslim converts from backward classes, SC to decide

The Supreme Court has agreed to decide on a Tamil Nadu government appeal seeking to confirm its authority to provide reservation benefits to Muslim converts from backward classes. A three-judge Bench led by Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra reserved its order on the matter, following arguments presented by the State's legal team. The Tamil Nadu government maintains that it has the power, as per the Tamil Nadu Backward Classes Commission, to issue "backward classes (Muslim) community certificates" to eligible individuals who have converted to Islam from other backward classes.

The State's appeal is in response to a June 25, 2024, Madras High Court decision which had quashed the government's March 9, 2024, order, stating that a person who converts to Islam cannot claim the status of a backward class. The government, however, argues that the 1951 judgment of the Madras High Court in G. Michael versus S. Venkateswaran, which upheld the constitutional validity of Paragraph 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, does not prevent the State from classifying converts as backward Muslims under Articles 15(4) and 16(4) of the Constitution.

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