Vijayawada: In a significant judgment, the Andhra Pradesh High Court has ruled that individuals who voluntarily convert from Hinduism to another religion will lose their Scheduled Caste (SC) status and the legal protections that come with it. The ruling came while quashing a case filed under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act against one Akkala Rami Reddy and five others.
Justice N Harinath, who delivered the verdict, emphasized that the constitutional safeguards and protections extended under the SC/ST Act are applicable only to individuals who continue to belong to the Scheduled Castes as recognized under the Hindu religion. The court noted that once an individual voluntarily converts to another religion, they no longer qualify for SC status or its associated legal protections.
The case stemmed from a complaint lodged by Chintada Anand, a pastor from Kothapalem in Guntur district, who accused Reddy and five others of verbally abusing him with caste-based slurs. Following Anand’s complaint, the police filed a chargesheet and initiated proceedings before a special SC/ST court.
Reddy approached the High Court seeking quashing of the case, arguing that the complainant had been serving as a Christian pastor for the past ten years and had thus voluntarily given up his Hindu faith. His counsel, Phani Dutt, contended that Christianity does not recognize the caste system, and as such, Anand’s claim to SC status was invalid.
Agreeing with this argument, Justice Harinath observed that the protections under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act are meant exclusively for those who continue to belong to these communities within the Hindu social order. He said that merely holding an uncancelled caste certificate does not entitle a convert to retain SC benefits or invoke provisions of the SC/ST Act.
“The very purpose of the SC/ST Act is to shield vulnerable sections from caste-based discrimination and violence. If an individual has voluntarily embraced another religion, he cannot claim those safeguards anymore,” the court stated.
Finding that the complainant had misused the SC/ST Act, the High Court quashed the proceedings against Reddy and the others, bringing the case to a close.
