New Delhi: The Supreme Court has dismissed a review petition challenging its March 24 judgment, which held that a person who has converted to Christianity and continues to profess and practise the faith cannot claim Scheduled Caste (SC) status or invoke protections under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
A bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Manmohan said that there was “no error apparent on the record” warranting review of its earlier verdict.
“We have gone through the Review Petition and perused the judgment dated 24.03.2026 which has been sought to be reviewed. There is no error apparent on the record. The Review Petition is, accordingly, dismissed,” the Justice Mishra-led Bench said in its order passed on July 15.
The apex court also waived the defects pointed out by the registry in the review petition in the interest of justice but rejected the petitioner’s application seeking an oral hearing in open court.
“Application seeking oral hearing of the Review Petition is rejected,” the bench ordered, adding that all pending applications, if any, shall stand disposed of.
In its March 24 judgment, the Supreme Court had upheld an Andhra Pradesh High Court order quashing criminal proceedings under the SC/ST Act against certain accused, holding that the complainant, who had converted to Christianity and had been serving as a pastor for over a decade, could not claim Scheduled Caste status.
It had ruled that “no person who professes a religion other than Hinduism, Sikhism, or Buddhism can be regarded as a member of the Scheduled Caste”, holding that the bar under the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, is “absolute” and admits no exception.
It had further held that conversion to a religion not specified under the Presidential Order results in the “immediate and complete loss” of Scheduled Caste status, and that a person cannot simultaneously profess another religion and claim Scheduled Caste status.
The top court had observed that the appellant had continued to profess Christianity and had been functioning as a pastor for more than a decade, conducting regular Sunday prayer meetings, leaving “no room for doubt” about his religious identity.
“In the present case, it is not the case of the petitioner that he reconverted from Christianity to his original religion or has been accepted back in the folds of the Madiga community. On the contrary, the evidence establishes that the appellant continued to profess Christianity… These concurrent facts leave no room for doubt that he continued to remain a Christian,” the March 24 judgment had said.
Earlier, the Andhra Pradesh High Court had held that a person who had converted to Christianity and was working as a pastor could not invoke the protections available to Scheduled Castes under the SC/ST Act, observing that the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, excludes persons professing religions other than those specified therein from claiming Scheduled Caste status.
(IANS)
