After religious conversion, the caste of a person remains the same : Madras High Court

Court refused to give an inter-caste marriage certificate after conversion and hence, not entitled to caste-wise reservation

Chennai – The caste of a person remains the same even after conversion from one religion to another, the Madras High Court ruled in a reservation case; but at the same time, the demand of the petitioners for the benefit of reservation was also rejected.

In this case, a Dalit man had converted to Christianity. This man was married to a young woman from the Dalit community; however, this young woman did not convert. On this, the person said, in a petition to the Court that his being an inter-caste marriage he should get the benefits of caste-wise reservation in Government jobs.

Conversion of religion will not change caste: Madras high court https://t.co/szeAQKW5d8

— TOIChennai (@TOIChennai) November 25, 2021

Hearing this, the High Court ruled that if a Dalit person converts, he is considered as a backward class for reservation under the law; however, the community certificate so obtained does not warrant an inter-caste marriage certificate.

The person who filed the petition in the High Court belonged to the Adi-Dravidar community, which is categorised as SC and his wife also belongs to an SC community; however, this man converted to Christianity. As a result, he got the status of backward class.