Converts to Islam Cannot Claim Backward Class Muslim Reservation Through Government Order: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court has struck down a Tamil Nadu Government Order that allowed individuals from Backward Classes (BC), Most Backward Classes (MBC), Denotified Communities (DNC) and Scheduled Castes (SC) to claim Backward Class Muslim status after converting to Islam for reservation purposes.

A Division Bench comprising Justices G.R. Swaminathan and P.B. Balaji held that while a person is free to convert to Islam, such conversion does not automatically entitle them to membership of a specific Muslim community recognised under the State's reservation framework. The Court ruled that the executive cannot override binding judicial precedents through a government order.

The case was filed by Sameer Ahamed, formerly known as Paramasivam, who converted to Islam in 2015 and sought a community certificate identifying him as a Muslim Lebbai, one of the recognised Backward Class Muslim communities in Tamil Nadu. His request was rejected by the revenue authorities, leading him to approach the High Court.

Defending the 2024 Government Order, the State argued that it was intended to ensure continuity of reservation benefits for individuals who had already belonged to reserved categories before conversion. However, the Court rejected this justification, relying on earlier judicial decisions which held that a convert to Islam becomes simply a Muslim and cannot claim membership of a Muslim community determined by birth.

The Bench observed that communities such as Lebbai, Rowther and Marakkayar are birth-based social groups and cannot be acquired through conversion. It further held that the government had arbitrarily grouped converts into the Backward Class Muslim category merely to preserve reservation benefits.

Accordingly, the Court declared the Government Order unconstitutional, upheld the rejection of the petitioner's application, and reaffirmed that reservation benefits cannot be extended through executive action contrary to established law.