MADURAI: Striking down a TN government’s 2024 G.O. that allows converts from BC, MBC, denotified community (DNC) or SC background to be issued community certificates as BC Muslim, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday held that upon conversion, the person who converts to Islam becomes only a Muslim and is not entitled to reservation.
Hearing a petition by N Sameer Ahamed (formerly N Paramasivam) of Thoothukudi in 2022 to quash the rejection order of his online application by the Kayathar tahsildar seeking to issue community certificate to him as Muslim Lebbai, a division bench of justices G R Swaminathan and P B Balaji said if the G.O. (Ms) No 31 dated March 9, 2024, is sustained, the writ petition has to be allowed. If the same G.O. is found to be bad, the plea has to be dismissed.
The court said both Christian missionaries and Islamic preachers for centuries claimed their religions offer social equality unlike Hinduism, which has castes. Islam seeks to establish an egalitarian society and there is no social hierarchy. Be that as it may, due to historical reasons, Islamic society is also stratified into various communities. They are akin to castes in Hinduism.
As held by the division bench of the HC more than 75 years ago, upon conversion to Islam, one becomes a Muslim. When the proposition laid down by the division bench is holding the field, it cannot be undone by issuing a mere G.O. by the state, the judges said.
The court further stated that an SC, who is at the bottom-most rung of the social ladder, is put on a par with a BC. Just for the sake of ensuring that the converts to Islam continue to enjoy some form of reservation benefit, such a bunching has been done by the state. The government came out with an innovation that is not only unconstitutional but also un-Islamic, the judges remarked.
