A convert to Islam cannot claim the status of Backward Class: Madras HC

Madurai: Holding that a convert to Islam cannot claim the status of Backward Class Muslim, Madras high court struck down a 2024 govt order (GO) which allows persons from Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes, Denotified Communities and Scheduled Castes to be treated as Backward Class Muslims after conversion to Islam.The court was hearing the petition filed in 2022 by N Sameer Ahamed of Tuticorin district. The petitioner was born to a Hindu couple in 1993 and was named as Paramasivam. In 2015, the petitioner embraced Islam and also changed his name to Sameer Ahamed. He married a woman as per Islamic rites and customs in 2016 and has two children. He applied for a community certificate certifying him as ‘Muslim Lebbai’ (BC Muslim). The petitioner claims to follow the faith of Lebbai Muslims.

His application was rejected by the Kayathar tahsildar. Challenging the same, the petitioner filed the present petition.The petitioner stated that as per the 2024 GO a convert to Islam from Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes, Denotified Communities or Scheduled Castes may be treated as BC Muslim for availing the benefit of reservation and on such conversion, he may be issued with community certificate as belonging to one of the notified seven sects.

The state submitted that a convert from a forward community to Islam would not get the BC Muslim tag. Only those who already enjoyed the benefit of reservation would not lose it on account of conversion to Islam.A division bench of Justice G R Swaminathan and Justice P B Balaji observed that as early as in 1951, the first bench of the court held that when a Hindu gets converted to Islam, he becomes just a Mussalman and his place in Muslim society is not determined by the caste to which he belonged before his conversion.

The decision was also approved by the Supreme Court.The judges observed, “The Christian missionaries as well as Islamic preachers harangued through decades and centuries that their religions offer social equality unlike Hinduism which has caste as its inherent feature. Having taken such a stand for effecting conversions, it is disingenuous to claim that there is hierarchy in Islam also. In our respectful view, categorising certain sects as Backward and the remaining as Forward is antithetical to Quranic injunctions.

”“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 judges observed.The judges observed that when the proposition laid down by the division bench is holding the field, it cannot be undone by issuing a mere GO. When a division bench held that a convert to Islam becomes just a Mussalman, it is not open to state govt to issue a GO undermining the said decision. That is exactly what the govt has done by recognising that there can be conversion to any one of the seven sects of Muslims identified as Backward Class Muslim.The sheer arbitrariness of the GO becomes manifest for one more reason. The Backward Classes Commission’s recommendation as well as GO provide for accommodating BC/MBC/DNC/SC convertees in any one of the seven slots. In other words, a SC who is at the bottom-most rung of the social ladder is put on par with a BC. The Supreme Court in a catena of decisions has held that OBCs and SCs form separate categories. Just for the sake of ensuring that the converts to Islam continue to enjoy some form of reservation benefit, such a bunching has been done by state govt.

This exposes the inherent flaw in the approach adopted by the govt, the judges observed.The judges observed that we have no option but to conclude that only to undo the judgments of the court, has the govt come out with an innovation that is not only unconstitutional but also un-Islamic. Once we find that the GO is illegal, it is our bounden judicial duty to declare it to be so. We accordingly declare that the said GO is unconstitutional. The order passed by the Kayathar tahsildar is sustained. “As a corollary, 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 judges observed and disposed of the petition.