New Delhi: The Supreme Court has ruled that a person who coverts from Hinduism to Islam cannot claim backward class Muslim status. A Hindu belonging to a backward class cannot claim the same reservation benefit as a Muslim backward Class member merely with conversion.
The top court upheld earlier Madras High Court’s decision to strike down a Tamil Nadu government order (GO), which allowed persons from Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes, Denotified Communities and Scheduled Castes to be treated as Backward Class Muslims after converting to Islam.
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Hearing the matter, a Bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Shree Chandrashekhar ruled that a person who converts from Hinduism to a non-Hindu religion cannot thereafter seek welfare benefits available to a socially backward class.
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