BREAKING| Conversion To Religion Other Than Hinduism, Buddhism Or Sikhism Results In Loss Of Scheduled Caste Status : Supreme Court
Gursimran Kaur Bakshi
24 March 2026 11:11 AM IST
A converted Christian cannot claim SC status and cannot invoke the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.
The Supreme Court today(March 24) upheld the Andhra Pradesh High Court's order, which held that once an individual converts to Christianity and actively professes and practices the same, he can't continue to be a member of the Scheduled Caste community.
The Court held that no person who professes a religion other than Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism can be regarded as a member of a Scheduled caste. Conversion to any other religion results in the loss of Scheduled Caste Status, the Court added. The Court noted that the Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order, 1950, made this clear, and the bar under this Order was absolute. Conversion to any religion not specified in Clause 3 of the 1950 order results in immediate loss of Schedule caste status, regardless of birth, the Court clarified.
This order was passed in the context of a person, who had converted to Christianity and acted as a Pastor, but had filed a case under the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against certain persons who had allegedly subjected him to assault. He claimed protection under the SC&ST Act, which was challenged by the accused persons as bad in law since the pastor had converted and was actively professing Christianity.
By an order dated April 30, 2025, the Andhra Pradesh High Court held that the caste system is alien to Christianity and is consequently barred from invoking the provisions of the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Justice Harinath N of the High Court had quashed charges filed by a complainant who had converted to Christianity and had invoked the SC & ST Act. Against this, the pastor filed a special leave petition.
A bench comprising Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice NV Anjaria held: "In the present case, it is not the case of the petitioner that he re-converted from Christianity to his original religion or has been accepted back in the folds of the Madika community. It establishes that the appellant continued to profess Christianity and has been functioning as a pastor for more than a decade, conducting regular Sunday prayers at the houses of the village. It is also admitted that at the time of the alleged incident, he was conducting prayer meetings at the house. These concurrent facts leave no room of doubt that he continued to remain a Christian on the date of the occurrence."
Background
The ruling stemmed from a Criminal Petition where the petitioner was accused of offences punishable under Sections 3(1)(r), 3(1)(s), 3(2)(va) of the SC&ST Act and Sections 341, 506, 323 read with 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
It was stated in the initial complaint filed by Respondent 2 (complainant), who was a Pastor conducting Sunday Prayers in Pittalavanipalem Village, that he was subjected to multiple assaults from the petitioner and had received repeated life threats for himself and his family and was also abused in the name of caste. In lieu of this, he had registered a case against the petitioner. The investigation was complete and the charge sheet was also filed. Aggrieved by this, the petitioner approached the High Court for quashing of charges against him.
It was the case of the petitioner that the registration of the FIR under the SC&ST Act was bad in law as the complainant had converted to Christianity and was working as a Pastor and thus, he could not claim to be a member of the Scheduled Caste community. The petitioner reasoned that the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, categorically made it clear that no person who professes a religion different from Hinduism shall be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste.
On the contrary, the respondents argued that the investigation was complete and the chargesheet was filed alongwith the witness statements of as many as 10 witnesses. With respect to the application of the SC&ST Act, it was argued that Respondent 2 cannot be denied protection under the SC&ST Act as the Tahsildar of Pittalavanipalem Mandal (witness 12) had confirmed that the respondent 2 was a member of the SC community belonging to Hindu-Madiga by Caste. It was also submitted that the respondent possessed a caste certificate which was issued by Tahsildar of Pittalavanipalem Mandal (witness 12).
With respect to the argument that Respondent 2 continues to hold a Scheduled Caste Certificate, the Court held that the same was a matter to be dealt under Section 5 of the Andhra Pradesh (Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes) Regulation of Issue of Community Certificates Act, 1993, by the appropriate authority under the Act. However, the Court added that mere non-cancellation of caste certificate does not entitle Respondent 2 to be protected by the SC & ST Act after conversion.
Case Details: CHINTHADA ANAND v STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH AND ORS.|SLP(Crl) No. 9231/2025