The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal filed by the Tamil Nadu government concerning reservation benefits for people from backward communities who embrace Islam. The Court ruled that a Hindu Backward Class member does not automatically join a notified Backward Muslim community merely by converting. It held that Article 16(4) does not carry forward reservation benefits on the basis of a person's earlier religion and caste. A Jamath conversion certificate by itself cannot prove statutory Backward Class membership, and the State's March 2024 order was rejected. Under Article 341, which lets the President notify Scheduled Castes, and the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, SC status is limited to those professing Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism.