The Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam has challenged before the Supreme Court of India the Madras High Court judgment that discontinued reservation benefits available under the reserved category to persons who embraced Islam.
The Tamil Nadu Government has approached the Supreme Court in a case concerning reservation rights following religious conversion. The State has challenged the Madras High Court judgment that declared unconstitutional a Government Order issued in 2024, holding that a person cannot be granted the benefit of the Backward Class (Muslim) category solely on the basis of conversion to Islam.
The matter has now reached the Supreme Court, where the State has filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) seeking reconsideration of the High Court's decision.
Under the 2024 Government Order, persons belonging to the Backward Class (BC), Most Backward Class (MBC), Denotified Communities (DNC), or Scheduled Caste (SC) categories who had embraced Islam could, in specified circumstances, be issued community certificates under the Backward Class (Muslim) category.
Pursuant to the policy, community certificates were issued to eligible persons from the concerned communities. The State Government maintained that the policy was consistent with its social justice framework. The Government Order was subsequently challenged before the Madras High Court.
A Division Bench of the Madras High Court held that conversion to another religion does not, by itself, make a person a member of a particular reserved category. The court observed that the Government Order was inconsistent with existing judicial precedents and constitutional principles.
The High Court further held that eligibility for reservation cannot be determined solely on the basis of religious conversion and stated that the principles laid down in earlier judgments of the Supreme Court and other courts must be followed in such matters. On that basis, the court declared the Tamil Nadu Government's 2024 Government Order unconstitutional.
Following the High Court judgment, the Tamil Nadu Government filed a Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court seeking reconsideration of the decision. The State has submitted that its policy was framed with the objective of ensuring social justice and equal opportunity.
The Supreme Court will now consider whether the State Government's Government Order was consistent with the Constitution and the existing legal framework.
Had the Government Order remained in force, eligible persons from certain Muslim communities and eligible individuals who had converted to Islam could have obtained community certificates and the associated benefits under the Backward Class (Muslim) category. Following the High Court's judgment, the arrangement is presently without effect, and the final position will depend on the Supreme Court's decision.
