SC Ruling: Religion Change Means Losing SC Status

Supreme Court of India upheld a judgement by the Andhra Pradesh High Court which stated that a person who converted to Christianity cannot avail SC status. In a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said that no person who follows a religion other than Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism shall be considered a member of the scheduled caste.

The Apex Court further said that conversion to any other religion results in loss of scheduled caste status.

The decision will have a far-reaching impact on many converts not just in the Telugu states, but across India. At a time when conversions are being widely debated in the country, this is a rather historic decision.

The Supreme Court heard the case filed by Chintada Anand challenging the decision taken by the Andhra Pradesh High Court previously and gave its final decision on Tuesday.

The case has its roots in Bapatla. Pastor Chintada Anand was running a church without any permissions and the locals and one Akkala Ramireddy opposed him. Following that, Chintada Anand filed an SC, ST atrocities case against them. But Ramireddy filed a counter saying that Chintada Anand was a Christian and that the act was not applicable in his case. Ramireddy’s lawyers argued that according to the Constitution, those outside Hinduism do not fall under scheduled caste category.

The lawyers argued that there was no basis for the case filed by Chintada Anand. The Andhra Pradesh High Court ruled that Christianity did not have caste system and hence the case was invalid. It noted that SCs were part of Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism.

The Supreme Court upheld the decision taken by the Andhra Pradesh High Court and said even if one held the caste certificate, the law would not apply to them.

Supreme Court said Chintada Anand was a Christian for a decade and there was no proof that he converted back to Hinduism. Hence, the case was struck down by the Apex Court.