New Delhi: The Tamil Nadu government has approached the Supreme Court against a Madras High Court ruling which struck down its decision to extend reservation benefits under the Backward Class Muslim category to people from reserved communities who embraced Islam.
The state government issued an order in March 2024 stating that individuals belonging to Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes, Denotified Communities or Scheduled Castes who converted to Islam would receive reservation benefits under the BC Muslim category.
The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court declared the government order unconstitutional while dismissing the petition of a man who embraced Islam and sought a community certificate identifying him as a member of the Muslim Lebbai community for reservation purposes.
Tamil Nadu has notified seven Muslim communities, including Muslim Lebbai, under the Backward Class Muslim category.
In its ruling, the High Court relied on earlier judgments of the Supreme Court and the Madras High Court, including the G Michael versus S Venkateswaran case. The court observed that a Hindu who embraces Islam becomes a Muslim and no longer retains membership of the caste to which he belonged before conversion.
The court also referred to the Islamic principle of social equality. It stated that classifying some Muslim groups as backward and others as forward conflicts with Quranic teachings, which promote an egalitarian society.
The High Court further held that the state government could not issue an order contrary to the earlier judicial ruling. According to the judgment, recognising conversion into any of the seven notified Backward Class Muslim communities undermined the legal position established in previous decisions.
The Supreme Court will now examine the Tamil Nadu government’s challenge to the High Court verdict.
