India's Supreme Court rules converts to Islam cannot claim a backward-class quota

The court on Thursday upheld a Madras High Court ruling that struck down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order letting converts from backward classes claim reservation benefits as Muslims.

A person who converts to Islam does not become part of the Muslim backward class category. A person's pre-conversion status cannot confer on him the status of backwardness.

— Supreme Court of India bench

Background

The case began with N Paramasivam, a Hindu who converted to Islam in 2015 and was refused a Backward Class Muslim certificate in 2016.

The Bharatiya Janata Party in Tamil Nadu welcomed the ruling, while DMK president M K Stalin urged the state to seek a review, calling it against social justice.