New Delhi, Aug 8:
The Supreme Court on Friday (August 8) reserved its decision on a plea of the Tamil Nadu government challenging a Madras High Court verdict which held that a person converting to Islam was not entitled to claim reservation under the Backwards Class (Muslim) category solely based on conversion.
A bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Shree Chandrashekhar heard senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Siddharth Luthra for the state government, who sought setting aside of the order.
Rohatgi submitted that the object behind the state government’s order of March 9, 2024 was to ensure that persons belonging to socially and educationally backward communities are not deprived of reservation benefits solely on account of conversion to Islam.
He said the state government’s order created a level playing field by preserving affirmative action benefits despite change of religion.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan appeared for the respondent, the original petitioner, before the high court.
The high court’s judgment arose from a petition filed by Sameer Ahamed, who converted from Hinduism to Islam in 2015, with the conversion being notified through a Gazette notification in 2016.