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New Delhi: The Madurai bench of the Madras high court has ruled that a person who converts to Islam cannot claim the status of a Backward Class Muslim, striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order (G.O.) that had permitted such claims. The court underlined that the G.O. was not only “unconstitutional” but “un-islamic” as well.

The ruling came as the court was hearing a petition filed in 2022 by a Thoothukudi resident born to Hindu parents who had converted to Islam in 2015. After changing his name, he sought a community certificate identifying him as ‘Muslim Lebbai’. The Kayathar Tahsildar turned down the application after which he approached the court The Hindu reported.

While the petition was pending, the Tamil Nadu government issued a 2024 G.O. that allowed converts to Islam from Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes, Denotified Communities, or Scheduled Castes to be treated as BC (Muslim) and receive a community certificate under one of the seven notified Muslim sects. Those who had converted from the so-called forward........

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