The Supreme Court of India has issued a landmark ruling on the continuation of Scheduled Caste (SC) reservation rights for individuals who convert to other religions. A bench comprising Justices P.K. Mishra and N.V. Anjaria examined a petition filed by an individual from Andhra Pradesh who had converted to Christianity and had been serving as a pastor for the past ten years. The petitioner had challenged a case registered against him under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act following an alleged assault.
The court emphasized that under the constitutional provision of 1950, SC status is applicable only to Hindus, Sikhs, and Buddhists. Individuals converting to other religions such as Christianity or Islam immediately lose their SC status. As a result, they are no longer entitled to constitutional protections, benefits, or reservations available to Scheduled Castes under the law.
The Supreme Court upheld the decision of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, which had earlier ruled that the petitioner could not claim SC rights after conversion. The apex court noted that there was no legal requirement to modify the high court verdict, affirming its validity and clarifying the constitutional scope of SC reservations.
This judgment resolves longstanding ambiguities regarding reservation entitlements for persons who change their religion. It reinforces that constitutional safeguards and SC/ST Act benefits are restricted to members of SC communities within the Hindu, Sikh, and Buddhist faiths, thereby establishing a clear legal precedent for future cases involving religious conversion.