Does religious conversion affect Scheduled Tribe status? | Explained
The Allahabad High Court ruled that religious conversion does not automatically strip an individual of their Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. However, the court emphasized that individuals must still prove a continued cultural and social connection to their tribe to claim benefits like land ownership protections.
Why it matters
This ruling clarifies the legal intersection of religious identity and indigenous rights in India, setting a precedent for how tribal status is verified in land disputes.
The story so far: The Allahabad High Court has held that conversion to another religion does not automatically end a person’s Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. However, where a person’s continuing tribal status is disputed, the court can examine whether they continue to have a connection with the tribe.
The ruling came in a case concerning the purchase of tribal land in Uttar Pradesh. While the court rejected the argument that conversion by itself ends ST status, it ultimately upheld the cancellation of three land transactions after finding that the person claiming ST status had not established that she continued to have the required connection with the Bhuiyan tribe.
The case concerned three agricultural land transactions in Sonbhadra district, Uttar Pradesh, made in 2011, 2017 and 2018.
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