Person who converts from Hinduism to Islam can't claim Backward Class Muslim status: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has upheld the Madras High Court's decision to strike down a Tamil Nadu government order (GO) that allowed persons from Backward Classes, Most Backward Classes, Denotified Communities and Scheduled Castes to be treated as Backward Class Muslims after converting to Islam [The Secretary to Govt v. Sameer Ahamed N]..A Bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Shree Chandrashekhar ruled that a person who converts from Hinduism to a non-Hindu religion cannot thereafter seek welfare benefits available to a socially backward class that he belonged to before his religious conversion."A person who converts from the Hindu social order to a non-Hindu social order cannot claim affirmative action under Article 16(4) of the Constitution merely on the basis of the social backwardness associated with his pre conversion status.