Today, On 24th March, Supreme Court of India upheld the Andhra Pradesh High Court ruling that conversion to Christianity bars continued membership of the Scheduled Caste community. The Court held only Hindus, Sikhs or Buddhists qualify for Scheduled Caste status, conversion to any other religion, including Christianity, results in the loss of that status.
The Supreme Court upheld the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s decision that an individual who converts to Christianity and openly practices that faith cannot remain a member of the Scheduled Caste community.
A bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and NV Anjaria heard the case and ruled that only persons who profess Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism are eligible for Scheduled Caste status; conversion to any other religion, including Christianity, results in the loss of that status.
The Bench held that,
“In the present case, it is not the case of the petitioner that he re-converted from Christianity to his original religion or has been accepted back in the folds of the Madika community. It establishes that the appellant continued to profess Christianity and has been functioning as a pastor for more than a decade, conducting regular Sunday prayers at the houses of the village. It is also admitted that at the time of the alleged incident, he was conducting prayer meetings at the house. These concurrent facts leave no room of doubt that he continued to remain a Christian on the date of the occurrence.”
Also Read: “Religious Conversion Open to All, But Requires Proof to be Voluntary”: Allahabad HC
Thus, the court held, a Dalit who becomes a Christian cannot claim protections under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, in the view of the two-judge Bench.
The Court said,
“No person who professes a religion other than Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist shall be a member of Scheduled caste. Conversion to any other religion results in loss of Scheduled caste status,”
The judgment arose from a case in which a man who had converted to Christianity and served as a pastor filed a complaint under the SC/ST Act alleging assault. The accused challenged his entitlement to the Act’s protections on the ground that he had converted and was actively practicing Christianity.
The decision arose from a criminal petition in which the petitioner faced charges under Sections 3(1)(r), 3(1)(s), 3(2)(va) of the SC&ST Act and Sections 341, 506 and 323 read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
The judgment concerned an appeal by pastor Chinthada Anand against a May 2025 order of the Andhra Pradesh High Court.
Also Read: BREAKING||SC Grants Bail in Religious Conversion Case
Anand maintained that he had been subjected to caste-based discrimination and abuse by Akkala Ramireddy and others, and he filed a complaint under the SC/ST Act that led the police to register an FIR. Ramireddy moved the High Court seeking quashing of the FIR.
Justice N. Harinath set aside the FIR, holding that Anand had forfeited his Scheduled Caste status upon converting to Christianity and therefore could not claim the protections of the SC/ST Act.
The court further observed that possessing an SC certificate did not alter this conclusion, since conversion to Christianity a religion in which caste distinctions are not recognized nullified Scheduled Caste status. Anand subsequently appealed that decision to the Supreme Court.
Case Title: CHINTHADA ANAND v STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH AND ORS., SLP(Crl) No. 9231/2025
Read Live Coverage