AP High Court Draws the Line: No SC Status After Religious Conversion

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has given a big decision to take away the Scheduled Caste (SC) status from those who convert. Dismissing a case filed under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the court said that those who convert cannot claim the protection provided under the Act from the moment of conversion.

A person named Akkala Rami Reddy had approached the High Court to challenge the case filed against him and five others by pastor Chintada Anand of Kothapalem in Guntur district. Anand alleged that Reddy and others abused him using casteist slurs. The police filed a chargesheet before a special court for SC/ST cases. Reddy requested the High Court to dismiss it and stay all proceedings before the special court.

The petitioner said that the complainant has claimed that he was working as a pastor for 10 years, and he has changed his religion voluntarily. Petitioner's lawyer Phani Dutt argued that Christianity does not recognize the caste system. He said that there is no mention of caste system in other religions in the Constitution. Also, people who convert from Hinduism to other religions cannot be considered Scheduled Caste.

Justice N Harinath said that when the petitioner had said that he has been following Christianity for the last 10 years, the police should not have invoked the SC/ST Act against him. The court said that the purpose of the SC/ST Act is to protect individuals belonging to those groups and not those who have converted to other religions.

Justice Harinath said that applying the SC/ST Act only on the ground that his caste certificate was not canceled cannot be a valid ground. Noting that the complainant had misused the SC/ST Act, the court quashed the case against Reddy and others.