Indian Christians shocked by Supreme Court ruling denying converts ‘scheduled caste’ status

Dalits or ‘untouchables’ of the lowest caste were traditionally required to do menial work and still often face discrimination. Nearly 60 per cent of Indian Christians are Dalits.

The Supreme Court of India ruled that a person who has converted to Christianity cannot seek scheduled caste status.

Upholding an order of the Andhra Pradesh High Court order, the Supreme Court said last week that scheduled caste status is legally contingent on professing Hinduism or any other religion explicitly recognised under the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order 1950.

The two-judge bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Manmohan said this meant an individual professing any religion other than Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism cannot claim schedule caste status, which provides reservation in jobs, education and political representation besides legal protections against discrimination against Dalits, formerly “untouchables”.

The Constitution Order 1950 was modified to include Sikhism and Buddhism. According to the government, Sikhism and Buddhism are “Indic religions” while Christianity and Islam are foreign religions.

The judgement came as a huge shock as a larger bench of the Supreme Court is already hearing a 2011 petition on the issue.

Advocate Robin Ratnakar David said it was a strange decision given that a three-judge bench is considering the matter, while a commission of inquiry headed by former Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan was set up in 2022 to study whether schedule caste status needs to be extended to Dalit Christians and Muslims.

However, David said the judgement is now law and is binding unless a petition is filed questioning the move to bypass the larger bench even as the Balakrishnan Commission is set to give its recommendation in two weeks’ time.

Dalits or “untouchables” of the lowest caste were traditionally required to carry night soil and do menial work. They are often discriminated against and segregated from society. Nearly 60 per cent of Indian Christians are Dalits.

In January 2021, Christian pastor Chinthada Anand, a scheduled caste Dalit, filed a complaint against a group of people who he alleged assaulted and abused him because of his caste.

The accused appealed to the Andhra Pradesh High Court to quash the police report against them, arguing that Anand could not legally claim scheduled caste status under the Constitution Order as he had converted to Christianity. 

The High Court accepted this contention in April 2025, ruling that a person who professes Christianity cannot invoke protections under the Schedule Caste/Schedule Tribe Act.

Anand then approached the Supreme Court, contending that caste is determined by birth and that the stigma continues regardless of an individual’s religious affiliation. But on 24 March, the top court ruled that Anand “ceased to be a member of the scheduled caste community upon his conversion to Christianity”.

In 2007, the Ranganath Mishra Commission supported reservation for Christians and Muslims, but Narinder Modi’s government has refused to accept its recommendations claiming it had many flaws.

Political analyst Sanjay Bhatia said the government wanted converts to return to their original religion to receive the benefits of reservation. Some southern states – namely Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka – have extended welfare benefits to Dalit Christians and Muslims.

Bhatia said the fate of the beneficiaries of these states hangs in balance due to the Supreme Courty verdict. He claimed “the verdict is politically motivated with an eye on the coming assembly elections in five states”.

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