NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has ruled that religious conversions undertaken purely to avail reservation benefits without genuine belief amount to a “fraud on the Constitution.” The verdict, delivered by a bench comprising Justices Pankaj Mithal and R Mahadevan on Tuesday, upheld a Madras high court decision denying a scheduled caste (SC) certificate to a woman who converted to Christianity but later claimed to be a Hindu to avail quota benefits for securing employment.
The case was filed by C Selvarani, who was born to a Hindu father and a Christian mother, and baptised as a Christian shortly after birth. Selvarani applied for an upper-division clerk position in Puducherry in 2015, seeking an SC certificate on the basis of her father’s Valluvan caste, which is classified under scheduled castes.
However, evidence presented to the court indicated that she regularly practiced Christianity and attended church services, sabotaging her claim of identifying as a Hindu.
Conversion for benefits ‘undermines reservation policy’
Justice Mahadevan, writing the 21-page verdict for the bench, pointed out that conversion to a religion must be inspired by its principles and tenets.
“However, if the purpose of conversion is largely to derive the benefits of reservation but not with any actual belief in the other religion, the same cannot be permitted, as the extension of benefits of reservation to people with such ulterior motives will only defeat the social ethos of the policy of reservation,” he noted.
The top court highlighted that individuals who convert to Christianity lose their caste identity and must provide substantial evidence of reconversion and acceptance by their original caste community to reclaim SC status. In Selvarani’s case, the bench found no credible proof of reconversion to Hinduism, such as public declarations, ceremonies, or documentation. On the contrary, her continued adherence to Christian practices invalidated her claim.
‘Fraud on the Constitution’
The bench ruled that Selvarani’s claim to identify as a Hindu solely to access SC reservation benefits while actively practicing Christianity was untenable. The court held that granting her SC status would violate the spirit of reservation policies aimed at uplifting marginalised communities and “would go against the very object of reservation and would amount to fraud on the Constitution”.
“One converts to a different religion when genuinely inspired by its principles. Conversion purely for reservation benefits, devoid of belief, is impermissible,” the bench added.
The apex court also dismissed Selvarani’s argument that her caste identity was merely in “eclipse” during her conversion to Christianity and would automatically resume upon reconversion to Hinduism.
The judgment mentioned that such resumption requires clear and verifiable evidence of reconversion, which was absent in her case.
“As the factum of reconversion is disputed, there must be more than a mere claim. The conversion had not happened by any ceremony or through ‘Arya Samaj’. No public declaration was effected. There is nothing on record to show that she or her family has reconverted to Hinduism and on the contrary, there is a factual finding that the appellant still professes Christianity,” it said.
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