SC Backs Madras HC Ruling, Rejects Plea on Quota for Hindu Converts to Islam

The Supreme Court has affirmed the Madras High Court judgment quashing a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that extended backward class quota benefits to individuals converting from Hinduism to Islam. Rejecting the state government's appeal, the apex court observed that conversion to Islam does not by itself make an individual a member of any of the seven notified backward class Muslim communities in Tamil Nadu. The court held that pre-conversion social backwardness does not automatically translate into backward class status under a different religion without establishing necessary social and legal links. The 2024 state government notification had sought to allow members of backward classes, most backward classes, denotified castes, and Scheduled Castes who convert to Islam to claim quota benefits. While affirming the High Court's decision setting aside the order as unsustainable in law, the apex court's observations remain specific to the notified backward class Muslim communities of Tamil Nadu, with a detailed written judgment awaited.