The Allahabad High Court recently directed the Uttar Pradesh government to take action against individuals who have converted to Christianity but continue to receive benefits reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SC).
In its November 21 order, a Bench led by Justice Praveen Kumar Giri referenced a ruling by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, which stated that caste-based discrimination does not exist within Christianity. Consequently, the court held that the Scheduled Caste status becomes invalid upon conversion, regardless of any previously issued caste certificate.
BIG BREAKING⚡️GEM OF JUDICIARY !
Lucknow, UP: Allahabad HC orders UP govt to stop SC reservation benefits to persons who converted to Christianity.
As per reports, court calls it 'Fraud on Constitution; No Caste System In Christianity'; directs all DMs to probe and cancel such… pic.twitter.com/r0egtQWBW4
— Angry Saffron (@AngrySaffron) December 2, 2025
The Bench also referred to a Supreme Court ruling, which noted that seeking caste-based benefits solely to take advantage of reservations after conversion constitutes a “fraud on the Constitution.”
The court rejected the plea filed by Jitendra Sahani, who faces allegations of promoting enmity between religions and hurting the religious sentiments of a community. In his petition, Sahani claimed he only sought permission to hold a gathering on his own land to “preach the words of Jesus Christ” and accused the police of falsely implicating him. However, the police informed the court that Sahani, originally from the Kewat community, had declared his religion as Hinduism in his affidavit despite having converted to Christianity. According to a witness cited in the chargesheet, Sahani allegedly lured poor individuals to convert to Christianity and used offensive and abusive language about Hindu deities.
Referring to the Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order, 1950, which states that only Hindus, Sikhs, or Buddhists can be recognised as Scheduled Castes, the High Court directed the District Magistrate of Maharajganj to take strict action against Sahani if he is found guilty of forgery for claiming to be Hindu in official documents while being a Christian priest.
“Strict action must be taken against him to prevent such affidavits from being filed before the Court in the future,” the court stated.
The court further directed the Cabinet Secretary of the Government of India and the Chief Secretary of the Government of Uttar Pradesh to examine matters concerning Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes, and to act in accordance with the law. Similar instructions were issued to the Principal Secretary or Additional Chief Secretary of the Minorities Welfare Department, Government of Uttar Pradesh, as well as all District Magistrates in the state, to ensure appropriate action is taken, and the law is implemented in its true spirit.
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