The Madras high court has struck down a Tamil Nadu government order that allowed persons from Backward Classes (BC), Most Backward Classes (MBC), Denotified Communities (DNC) and Scheduled Castes (SC) who converted to Islam to continue availing reservation benefits under the Backward Class Muslim (BCM) category, holding the order to be unconstitutional.
In an order passed on Thursday, a division bench of justices GR Swaminathan and PB Balaji ruled that the government order issued by the then Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government on March 9, 2024, could not override settled judicial precedents. The court held that a person who converts to Islam becomes “just a Muslim” and cannot claim membership of any of the State’s seven notified Backward Class Muslim communities.
“We hold that a convert to Islam cannot claim the status of Backward Class Muslim. He is only a Muslim and that’s all there is to it,” the bench said.
The seven communities recognised as Backward Class Muslims in Tamil Nadu are Ansar, Dekkani Muslims, Dubekula, Labbais (including Rowther and Marakayar), Mapilla, Sheik and Syed. These communities were grouped under a separate BCM category through a government order issued in July 2008 and are reflected in the Tamil Nadu Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act.
The 2024 government order had directed that persons belonging to BC, MBC, DNC and SC communities who embraced Islam would continue to receive reservation benefits by being treated as BCMs. It also permitted the issuance of community certificates identifying such converts as belonging to any one of the seven notified BCM communities, making them eligible for reservation under that category.
The high court, however, held that the state’s assumption that a convert could be issued a certificate showing membership of one of those communities was “legally and conceptually unsustainable”.
The bench referred to a 1951 Madras high court judgment which held that when a Hindu converts to Islam, the person becomes a Muslim and not a member of any specific Muslim community such as Labbai, Rowther, Marakkayar or Syed.
Such communities, the court said, are birth-based and cannot be acquired through conversion.
“As held by the division bench of the Madras high court more than 75 years ago, upon conversion to Islam, one becomes a Muslim. The division bench used the expression, ‘Just a Mussalman’. He cannot be pigeonholed into any particular sect or community which can be only by virtue of one’s birth therein,” the court observed.
The case arose from a petition filed by Sameer Ahamed, who was born into a Hindu family, converted to Islam in 2015 and later sought a community certificate identifying him as a Muslim Labbai.
His application was rejected by the local Tahsildar in 2022 on the ground that he had converted to a religion and not to a caste or community. He subsequently approached the HC. While his petition was pending, the state issued the 2024 government order.
The court noted that Ahamed’s plea had no legal basis when it was filed and acquired significance only after the issuance of the government order. Instead of granting relief, the bench examined the validity of the order and ultimately struck it down.
The high court also held that the executive could not nullify or circumvent binding judicial pronouncements through an executive order.
“Islam seeks to establish an egalitarian society. Everyone is equal in the eye of God. There is no social hierarchy. Be that as it may, due to historical reasons, the Islamic society is also stratified into various communities. One can even boldly remark that they are akin to caste in Hinduism. Just as caste is determined by birth, one is a Rowther or Marakkayar or Deccani Muslim by birth alone. It is ridiculous to suggest that one can be converted into a Rowther Muslim,” the court said.
Holding that the government order was contrary to settled law, the high court declared it unconstitutional and dismissed Ahamed’s petition.
