SCs will lose their status after converting to Christianity: Andhra High Court
VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh High Court has ruled that individuals belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC) lose their SC status immediately upon converting to Christianity, thereby forfeiting protections under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The verdict, delivered by Justice N Harinath, came in response to a case involving Pastor Chintada Anand from Kothapalem, Guntur district, who had filed a complaint under the SC/ST Act.
In January 2021, Anand, a pastor for over a decade, lodged a complaint with the Chandolu police, alleging that Akkala Ramireddy and others had abused him based on his caste. The police registered a case under the SC/ST Act. However, Ramireddy and others challenged the case in the High Court, seeking its dismissal.
The petitioners’ counsel, Phani Dutt, argued that Anand, having converted to Christianity and served as a pastor for ten years, no longer qualified as an SC member under the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950. The order states that SC individuals who adopt a religion other than Hinduism lose their SC status.
Anand’s counsel, Eerla Satish Kumar, countered that Anand held a valid SC Hindu caste certificate, asserting his eligibility for protections under the Act. However, Justice Harinath clarified that conversion to Christianity, where caste distinctions do not exist, nullifies SC status regardless of any existing caste certificate. The court noted that the SC/ST Act was enacted to protect SC and ST communities from discrimination and atrocities, but its provisions do not apply to those who have converted to other religions.
The court found that Anand had misused the SC/ST Act by filing a false complaint. Witnesses confirmed his decade-long role as a pastor, and the court criticized the police for registering the case without verifying his status.
Justice Harinath quashed the case against Ramireddy and others, stating that Anand’s complaint lacked legal standing. The court noted that the validity of Anand’s caste certificate would be subject to scrutiny by authorities, but its existence did not entitle him to protections under the SC/ST Act post-conversion.