The Madras High Court has held that a person who embraced Islam cannot claim the status of a Backward Class Muslim merely by conversion and observed that such a person remains only a Muslim for the purpose of community classification.
The Division Bench of Justice GR Swaminathan and Justice PB Balaji declared unconstitutional the Tamil Nadu Government Order issued on March 9, 2024, which enabled persons belonging to Backward Classes (BC), Most Backward Classes (MBC), Denotified Communities (DNC) and Scheduled Castes (SC) to be treated as Backward Class Muslims after converting to Islam.
The Court delivered the ruling while dismissing a writ petition filed by Sameer Ahamed, formerly known as Paramasivam, who had challenged the rejection of his application for issuance of a community certificate identifying him as a Muslim Lebbai, one of the seven Muslim communities recognised as Backward Class Muslims in Tamil Nadu.
The petitioner, who was born into a Hindu family in Thoothukudi district, converted to Islam in 2015, changed his name, married according to Islamic rites and subsequently sought a community certificate as a Muslim Lebbai. The Tahsildar rejected his application, following which he approached the High Court.
Before the Court, the petitioner relied upon the 2024 Government Order, under which converts from reserved categories were permitted to obtain community certificates identifying them as belonging to one of the seven notified Backward Class Muslim communities. The State defended the Government Order, contending that it had been issued based on the recommendations of the Tamil Nadu Backward Classes Commission and was intended only to ensure that persons already enjoying reservation benefits before conversion continued to receive such benefits after embracing Islam.
Rejecting the State’s stand, the High Court held that the executive could not override binding judicial precedents through a Government Order. The Bench referred to the 1951 decision of the Madras High Court in *G. Michael v. S. Venkateswaran*, which held that upon conversion to Islam, a person becomes only a Muslim and that his position within Muslim society is not determined by the caste into which he was born. The Court noted that this legal principle had subsequently received approval from the Supreme Court and continued to hold the field.
The Bench observed that a Government Order (GO) could not nullify or dilute settled judicial pronouncements and cautioned that permitting the executive to override judicial decisions in such a manner would undermine the rule of law and the constitutional scheme of judicial review.
The Court also found the GO manifestly arbitrary, observing that it indiscriminately grouped converts from BC, MBC, DNC and Scheduled Caste communities into a single Backward Class Muslim category solely to preserve reservation benefits after conversion. According to the Bench, such classification lacked any constitutional or legal basis.
Examining the social structure within Islam, the Court observed that although Muslim society comprised different sects and communities such as Rowther, Marakkayar, Lebbai and Deccani Muslims, membership of these communities was acquired by birth and not through conversion. It held that while an individual may convert to Islam as a religion, it was legally untenable to claim conversion into a particular Muslim community or sect for the purpose of securing reservation benefits.
The Bench further remarked that categorising only certain Muslim sects as Backward while treating others differently was inconsistent with the egalitarian principles of Islam. Referring to Islamic theology, the Court observed that Islam sought to establish social equality and rejected hierarchy based on birth.
The Government Order was not only unconstitutional but also contrary to the foundational principles of Islam, which recognised equality among all believers, it noted, and upheld the Tahsildar’s decision rejecting the petitioner’s request for a Muslim Lebbai community certificate and disposed of the writ petition.
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