New Delhi. The Supreme Court has given an important and big decision regarding reservation and social benefits received after religious conversion. The court has clarified that merely by changing religion a person cannot automatically be considered a member of any other Scheduled Backward Class caste or community. To do this, all the necessary conditions prescribed by law will have to be fulfilled at all costs.
Tamil Nadu government’s order rejected
This important decision was related to the order of the Tamil Nadu government, in which a provision was made to issue reservation certificates under the ‘Backward Class Muslim’ (BC Muslim) category to certain sections of people who converted to Islam. The Supreme Court has clarified the legal position by rejecting this provision.
Changing religion does not automatically change social status.
The Supreme Court said in its decision that in the Hindu social system, the previous community status of a person belonging to the Backward Class, Extremely Backward Class, Denotified Community or Scheduled Caste is not automatically transferred to the new reserved category after conversion. The court also made it clear that no private religious institution is authorized to grant the status of ‘BC Muslim’ to any person and it is mandatory to strictly follow the legal provisions in such cases.
