Tamil Nadu challenges Madras HC denying Backward Class status to persons who convert to Islam

The Tamil Nadu government has challenged a Madras High Court ruling that said that a person who converts to Islam cannot claim reservation under the Backward Class (Muslim) category, Live Law reported on Wednesday.

On June 24, the High Court struck down a 2024 government order that allowed persons from Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes, Denotified Communities or Scheduled Castes who converted to Islam to obtain a Backward Class (Muslim) community certificate. The certificate could be issued only if they belonged to Ansar, Dekkani Muslims, Dubekula, Labbais, Mapilla, Sheik and Syed.

The court had held that a person who has converted to Islam cannot claim the status of a Backward Class Muslim. “He is only a Muslim and that’s all there is to it,” the bench said.

The observations came while ruling on a plea filed by a 33-year-old man who was born as a Hindu in Thoothukudi district.

The man converted to Islam in 2015, changed his name and married as per Islamic traditions. He had subsequently applied for a community certificate that identified him as a Muslim Lebbai, one of the seven sects recognised as Backward Class Muslims in Tamil Nadu under the 2024 government order.

He approached the High Court after the tehsildar had rejected his application for the certificate.

During the proceedings, he...

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