Supreme Court upholds ruling on Tamil Nadu quota benefits
Summary and headline written by AI from the source article. How we work
N Paramasivam petitioned the Madras high court after a local official rejected his application for a community certificate recognizing him as part of a Backward Class Muslim community in Tamil Nadu, India.
Paramasivam, born Hindu in 1993, converted to Islam in 2015 and married a Muslim woman. He sought the certificate to access reservation benefits, but the official determined that converting to a religion did not qualify him for caste-based reservation.
The Madras high court agreed with the official, declaring a 2024 state government order unconstitutional. This order had provided 3.5% reservation to backward castes, most backward castes, and scheduled castes within the Muslim community, based on the Tamil Nadu Backward Class Muslims Reservation Act of 2007. The Supreme Court later upheld the high court’s decision, finding that converting to Islam does not automatically grant a person membership in a notified Backward Class Muslim community.
The court stated that a person’s previous caste status does not transfer when they convert, and they are simply identified as Muslim. Political reactions were divided, with the BJP welcoming the ruling and the DMK urging the state government to seek a review.
