The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has ruled that the conversion of a man who was born Hindu in a denotified community under the Most Backward Class (MBC) category to Islam would mean the loss of reservation benefits. Justice GR Swaminathan was hearing a petition filed by U Akbar Ali, who had challenged the decision by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) to withhold his results as he had registered under the reserved category. Upon inquiring after the status of his results, the TNPSC informed Akbar that he would be considered as an open category candidate. Akbar had then approached the court to challenge the decision. He had also claimed that after conversion, he now belonged to the Muslim Labbai community.
The court, while hearing the petition on December 1, however pointed out that not all Muslims in Tamil Nadu are considered as Backward Classes. Referring to the Tamil Nadu BC, MBC and Minorities Welfare Department list, the court said that only Ansar, Dekkani, Dudekula, Labbai including Rowthar and Marakayar, Mapilla, Syed and Sheik communities come under the BC category in the state.
Additionally, the court said, the certificate issued by the Kazi of Tamil Nadu government, Ramanathapuram district, “only states that the petitioner has become Muslim and nothing more.” Recalling an earlier judgement by the Madras High Court, the Madurai Bench also said that after a Hindu converts to Islam, “his place in society is not determined by the caste to which he belonged before his conversion.”
The court further says that the Kazi does not declare that the petitioner is to be treated as belonging to the Labbai community. “I fail to understand how a revenue authority or a secular government can fix the converted individual into a particular slot or pigeon-hole,” said Justice Swaminathan while upholding the decision by TNPSC to consider the petitioner as an open category candidate.