Supreme Court rules conversions for reservations are constitutional fraud
Op IndiaOn 26th November, the Supreme Court of India delivered a landmark judgment ruling that converting to a religion solely to claim reservation benefits without genuine belief in the adopted faith constitutes “fraud on the Constitution.” The apex court dismissed an appeal filed by C Selvarani, who was denied a Scheduled Caste certificate after she claimed to have reverted to Hinduism for the purpose of accessing reservation benefits in employment. No public declaration or ceremony for reconversion has been recorded, and there is compelling evidence that the appellant continues to profess Christianity.” The Court’s stance on fraudulent conversions The Supreme Court stated that religious conversions for the sole purpose of accessing reservation benefits undermine the integrity of the reservation system. The court said: “The conferment of Scheduled Caste communal status to the appellant, who is a Christian by religion but claims to still embrace Hinduism only for the purpose of availing reservation in employment, would go against the very object of reservation and would amount to fraud on the Constitution.” The court further observed that the issuance of earlier SC certificates to Selvarani and her family appeared to have been done without any prior verification. However, in August 2022, the Supreme Court asked the Union Government to respond to a plea arguing that Dalit Hindus who had converted to Christianity or Islam should be given the same reservation benefits as those extended to the Scheduled Caste category.