How religious conversion affects eligibility for caste-based reservation

In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court upheld the Madras High Court's decision that a person who converts from Hinduism to Islam cannot claim caste-based reservation under the Backward Class (Muslim) category. The court ruled that a person's backwardness associated with their pre-conversion status cannot be carried forward to confer upon them the status of a backward class in the religion to which they have converted.

This judgment highlights the impact of religious conversion on eligibility for caste-based reservation and legal protections.

In the case, a man who converted from Hinduism to Islam sought a community certificate identifying him as a "Muslim Lebbai," a community included in Tamil Nadu's Backward Class (Muslim) list. However, after his application was rejected by the local revenue authority, he approached the Madras High Court. While his petition was pending, the Tamil Nadu government issued an order allowing converts from certain backward classes to be issued a backward class (Muslim) certification under one of the seven recognized Muslim communities.

These communities include Dekkani Muslims, Dudekula, Labbais, Mapilla, Sheik, Syed, and Ansar, and together they receive a 3.5% reservation under the 2007 State Act.

The High Court took up the government order on its own and struck it down on June 25, ruling that conversion to Islam did not automatically establish membership in a community notified as backward in the state. The bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and S Chandrashekhar held that a person's conversion to a non-Hindu religion does not confer membership in a Muslim community notified as backward.

The court emphasized that conversion to a religion is not covered by the legal definition of Scheduled Castes and results in the loss of SC status from the moment of conversion.

The court also addressed the foundational principle of Islam, which is equality based on piety and conduct rather than birth. While the Indian Muslim society has historically seen social stratification, the court acknowledged that these divisions are not "three homogeneous castes" and can reflect social divisions that cannot be ignored solely due to Islam's egalitarian doctrine.

The court stated that while Muslims can qualify as backward classes if they meet constitutional requirements, conversion to a non-Hindu religion that does not treat caste as a basis of social standing would alter a claim rooted in caste-based backwardness within a Hindu society.