SC says Backward class Hindus can’t claim reservation after conversion

The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that individuals converting from Hinduism to Islam or other non-Hindu religions cannot automatically claim reservation benefits under the Backwards Class category. Dismissing the Tamil Nadu government’s plea against a Madras High Court verdict, a bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Shree Chandrashekhar held that social backwardness suffered in an antecedent caste cannot be carried forward after conversion. ​  
The apex court affirmed that conversion to a non-Hindu social order does not by itself confer membership in any notified Backwards Class community. It declared that statutory benefits under Article 16(4) of the Constitution cannot be extended solely on the basis of a person’s pre-conversion status. The court also reiterated that anyone professing a religion other than Hinduism, Sikhism, or Buddhism ceases to hold Scheduled Caste status.​It added that by virtue of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, a person who professes a religion other than Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism cannot be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste. Since a convert to any other religion ceases to possess the Scheduled Caste status, they cannot claim reservation under Article 16(4), which is dependent on membership of a Scheduled Caste, the court clarified.
The ruling comes in response to a petition concerning a Tamil Nadu Government Order from March 2024, which sought to grant reservation benefits to converts. Upholding the High Court’s decision to quash the order, the top court stated that private religious bodies cannot determine statutory entitlements, and reconversion to Hinduism would require independent, fact-specific verification by competent authorities.