Conversion and Reservation: Supreme Court Says Converting to Islam Does Not Bring BC Muslim Status
On 15 October 2026, a Supreme Court bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Shree Chandrashekhar dismissed Tamil Nadu's appeal in Secretary to Government v. Sameer Ahamed N. and upheld a Madras High Court ruling.
The case began with a man born to Hindu parents in 1993 in Thoothukudi district, Tamil Nadu. He converted to Islam in September 2015 and took the name Sameer Ahamed. He then applied for a community certificate as a "Labbai", one of the Muslim communities listed as Backward Classes (BC) in Tamil Nadu. The Tahsildar (a local revenue officer) rejected it.
He relied on a Tamil Nadu Government Order (GO) of 9 March 2024. It allowed people from BC, Most Backward Classes (MBC), Denotified Communities and Scheduled Castes (SC) who convert to Islam to be treated as Backward Class Muslims and get certificates under one of seven notified Muslim communities.
On 25 June 2026, a Division Bench of the Madras High Court (Justices G.R. Swaminathan and P.B. Balaji) struck down this GO as unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court agreed. It held that conversion alone does not make a person a member of a notified BC Muslim community. The backwardness a person faced in their earlier community cannot simply be carried into a new religion. The GO wrongly presumed membership instead of identifying a real community.
The Court also noted that under paragraph 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, SC status is only for those who profess Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism. It added that reconverting to Hinduism does not automatically restore the old reservation benefit; eligibility must be checked afresh under the law.
Religious Conversion and Reservation: SC, ST and OBC Status
When a person changes religion in India, their reservation status may change, and the rule is different for each group. Scheduled Caste (SC) status is tied to religion: only Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists can be SCs. Scheduled Tribe (ST) status is not tied to religion, because it depends on tribal identity. Other Backward Class (OBC/BC) status does not depend on religion as such, but on belonging to a listed backward community. So a convert must prove real membership of a listed community in the new religion.
The Sameer Ahamed ruling adds the OBC/BC piece to this picture. After Chinthada Anand settled the SC side for converts, this judgment makes clear that for backward class status, the question is real membership of a listed community, not simply one's new religion.
Reservation Policy in Tamil Nadu: The 69% Model
Tamil Nadu reserves 69% of seats in state government jobs and state educational institutions, which is more than the 50% ceiling set by the Supreme Court in Indra Sawhney (1992). The state protected this by passing the Tamil Nadu Act 45 of 1994 and getting it placed in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, which shields listed laws from many court challenges. Within the 69%, 50% goes to Backward Classes (including Most Backward Classes) and 19% goes to SCs and STs.
The 2024 GO tried to open the 3.5% BC Muslim quota to converts from other backward and SC groups. Both the High Court and the Supreme Court held that the State cannot place converts in a notified community just by presumption. It must have a lawful basis for identifying who belongs to that community.
Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950
The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 is the official list, issued by the President under Article 341, that names which castes count as Scheduled Castes in each state. Only Parliament can add or remove castes from this list, by law. Paragraph 3 of the Order adds a religion condition: a person who professes a religion other than Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism cannot be a member of a Scheduled Caste.
The Tamil Nadu GO covered converts from Scheduled Castes too. Since paragraph 3 already ends SC status when a person converts to Islam, the GO tried to give them BC Muslim status instead. The Supreme Court held that this cannot be done by simply presuming membership of a notified Muslim community.
- Case: Secretary to Government v. Sameer Ahamed N., SLP (Civil) No. 25507 of 2026; decided 15 October 2026
- Supreme Court bench: Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Shree Chandrashekhar
- Madras High Court Division Bench (Justices G.R. Swaminathan and P.B. Balaji) struck down the GO on 25 June 2026
- Impugned Tamil Nadu Government Order: dated 9 March 2024
- Petitioner: born 1993 in Thoothukudi district; converted to Islam in September 2015; sought "Labbai" community certificate
- BC Muslim quota in Tamil Nadu: 3.5% (2007 law), seven notified communities
- Tamil Nadu total reservation: 69% (Ninth Schedule protection)
- SC status: only for Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists (paragraph 3, SC Order 1950; Sikhs 1956, Buddhists 1990)
- Chinthada Anand v. State of Andhra Pradesh (24 March 2026): conversion to Christianity ends SC status