Madras HC voids Tamil Nadu order on Muslim reservations

In a significant ruling on reservation policy, the Madras High Court has struck down a Tamil Nadu government order that allowed individuals who convert to Islam to claim benefits as Backward Class Muslims. The court held that conversion alone does not confer membership in a birth-based community eligible for such reservations.

A division bench of Justices G.R. Swaminathan and P.B. Balaji declared the Government Order, issued on March 9, 2024, unconstitutional. The order had permitted persons from Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes, Denotified Communities, and Scheduled Castes who converted to Islam to be treated as Backward Class Muslims and issued corresponding community certificates.

The judgment came on a petition filed by N. Sameer Ahamed, formerly known as Paramasivam, a resident of Thoothukudi district. According to court records, Ahamed was born to a Hindu family, embraced Islam in 2015, changed his name, and later married under Islamic rites. He subsequently applied for a community certificate identifying him as a Muslim Lebbai, one of seven communities notified under the state's Backward Class Muslim category, to avail of reservation benefits. The local Tahsildar...