Availing SC Quota Benefits After Conversion Amounts To 'Fraud' On Constitution, Rules Allahabad High Court

Prayagraj: In a major ruling, the Allahabad High Court has said that people who convert to Christianity in Uttar Pradesh cannot continue taking benefits meant for Scheduled Castes, calling it a "fraud on the Constitution".

The Court on Tuesday issued a sweeping direction to the entire administrative machinery of Uttar Pradesh to ensure that individuals converted to Christianity do not continue to avail benefits meant for Scheduled Castes (SC).

Noting that retention of SC status after conversion amounts to a "fraud on the Constitution", the High Court set a strict deadline of four months for all district magistrates in the state to act in accordance with the law to identify and prevent such occurrences.

Justice Praveen Kumar Giri passed the order while dismissing an application filed by Jitendra Sahani from Maharajganj. In fact, Sahani has been accused of mocking Hindu deities and promoting enmity.

During the hearing, while going through the affidavit filed in support of the petition of the applicant, the court noted that he has mentioned his religion as Hindu in the affidavit, though he had converted to Christianity at this point. While police have also filed a chargesheet against Sahni under Sections 153-A and 295-A, the petitioner's lawyer said that Sahni had only asked for permission to preach the words of Jesus Christ on his own land. He said Sahni was being falsely implicated.

The court said that any person who follows a religion other than Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism cannot be considered a member of a Scheduled Caste. The court referred to the recent 2024 Supreme Court judgment in C. Selvarani vs. Special Secretary-cum-District Collector, in which the Apex Court had said that after adopting Christianity, a person no longer remains part of their original caste. The Supreme Court had then clearly said that changing religion only for the sake of taking benefits is a "fraud on the Constitution", and goes against the principles of the reservation policy.

Apart from this, the High Court also mentioned the 2025 decision of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in the Akkala Rami Reddy vs. State of Andhra Pradesh case, in which it was held that a person who has adopted Christianity and is actively practising it cannot remain a member of the Scheduled Caste category.

"Therefore, such a person cannot use the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act," the High Court said. The court then directed the Cabinet Secretary (Government of India) and Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary to look into issues and legal rules related to Scheduled Castes. It also directed the Principal Secretary of the Minority Welfare Department to take action so that the distinction between minority status and Scheduled Caste status is strictly enforced.

At the same time, the court termed the petitioner's affidavit "misleading" and directed the District Magistrate of Maharajganj to investigate his religion within three months. The court ordered that if Sahni is found guilty of fraud, where he claimed to be Hindu in court documents while being a Christian pastor, strict action must be taken against him so that such affidavits are not filed in court in the future.

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