The Madras High Court has invalidated a Tamil Nadu government order that extended Backward Class Muslim status to people from reserved communities after they converted to Islam, saying the policy was contrary to law.
A division bench of Justices G.R. Swaminathan and P.B. Balaji ruled on Thursday that the March 2024 order was unconstitutional.
The judges said a person who embraces Islam cannot be recognised as a Backward Class Muslim merely because they belonged to a reserved community before conversion. “He is only a Muslim and that’s all there is to it,” the bench observed.
The case arose from a petition by a 33-year-old man from Thoothukudi district who converted from Hinduism to Islam in 2015. After adopting a new name and marrying according to Islamic rites, he sought a community certificate identifying him as Muslim Lebbai, a group included among Tamil Nadu’s Backward Class Muslims under the 2024 order.
The petitioner moved the High Court after the local revenue authorities refused to issue the certificate.
Defending its policy, the Tamil Nadu government said the order was based on the recommendation of the State Backward Classes Commission and was intended to preserve reservation benefits for people who had qualified for them before changing their religion.
The bench disagreed, referring to an earlier High Court ruling that held a person who converts to Islam becomes “just another Mussalman.” It said an executive order could not override an established legal position.
The court also said the government had placed converts from the Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes, Denotified Communities and Scheduled Castes under the Backward Class Muslim category with the objective of allowing them to continue receiving reservation benefits.
Support Independent Media
Click Here and Join the Membership of Millat Times to Support Independent Media.
Support Millat Times