In a major development on Tuesday (24th March), the Supreme Court ruled that only people belonging to Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism can claim to be Scheduled Caste (SC) and those who convert to any other Faith will lose their SC status.
The matter was heard by a 2-Judge Bench of Justices PK Mishra and Manmohan. The court held that when a Dalit converts to Christianity, he cannot file a case under the SC/ST Act.
The Judges made the observations while hearing an appeal by a Christian pastor, Chinthada Anand, against a 2025 ruling of Andhra Pradesh High Court.
He claimed to face ‘caste discrimination’ at the hands of one Akkala Ramireddy and filed a case under SC/ ST Act. Eventually, the police lodged a First Information Report (FIR) based on the complaint.
Ramireddy then approached the Andhra Pradesh High Court and sought the quashing of the case on the ground that Chinthada Anand lost his status as a Scheduled Caste upon converting to Christianity. The High Court ruled in favour of Akkala Ramireddy.
Thereafter, the Christian pastor moved the Supreme Court of India. On Tuesday (24th March), the court ruled, “No person who professes a religion other than Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist shall be a member of Scheduled Caste. Conversion to any other religion results in loss of Scheduled Caste status.”
