Allahabad High Court Orders UP Govt to Ensure Christian Converts Don't Get SC Benefits

New Delhi: The Allahabad high court has directed the Uttar Pradesh government to probe and ensure that anyone who converts to Christianity from a Scheduled Caste (SC) background automatically forfeits the reservation benefits that came with their SC identity. 

A bench of Justice Praveen Kumar Giri passed the order on November 21, citing a Supreme Court judgement. The court said such a claim after conversion would be construed as a “fraud on the constitution and contrary to the ethos of reservation policies”.

The court also cited an Andhra Pradesh high court order which stated that caste-based discrimination does not exist within the Christian faith, and therefore the basis for SC classification stands nullified upon conversion, irrespective of the existence of any previously issued caste certificate.

The petition was filed by a Jitendra Sahani, who had been accused of promoting enmity between two religions and outraging the religious feelings of a community. He had sought quashing of the charges, arguing that he had applied for permission to “preach the words of Jesus Christ on my land”.

According to a report by The Times of India, the court observed that while Sahani had converted to Christianity, he had declared “Hindu” as his religion in his affidavit, in which he belonged to an SC community.

Meanwhile, a witness in the case alleged that Sahani disparaged Hinduism for caste hierarchies, claiming that converting to Christianity would bring “jobs, business growth and financial benefits from the missionaries”, as per the report.

The high court highlighted the provisions of the Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order, 1950, that specify that no person belonging to communities other than Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist shall be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste, and asked the district magistrate of Maharajganj to take strict action against Sahani if he is found guilty of “forgery” by claiming to be Hindu in court documents.

“.....Strict action must be taken against him to prevent such affidavits from being filed before the Court in the future,” the court said, as quoted by The Hindu.

Subsequently, the court also directed the Union cabinet secretary and the chief secretary of the UP government to look into the matter of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, as well as the provisions of law. 

Similar directions were issued to the principal secretary or additional chief secretary, minorities welfare department of the UP government, as well as to all district magistrates in the state, to take appropriate action as necessary.

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