The Supreme Court has ruled that a person converting to a religion other than Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism loses their Scheduled Caste status from the moment of conversion.
The court’s ruling is essentially a reiteration of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 that bars anyone professing a religion other than Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism from being treated as a member of a Scheduled Caste.
This means that caste-based protections, such as under the SC/ST Act, do not carry over after conversion to, say, Christianity. But caste-based discrimination is known to persist even after conversion — including among Dalit Christians.
The ruling, meanwhile, has reignited a debate in Punjab, where there is a growing phenomenon of people from Dalit Sikh and Hindu communities attending Christian church services and participating in “faith healing” sessions without formally changing their religion on official documents.
Why is the verdict significant for Punjab?
On paper, Christians form a small minority in Punjab — around 1.5% of the population as per the 2011 Census. On the ground, however, the number of people attending churches, especially independent ministries run by pastors outside traditional Catholic or Protestant structures, appears far higher. Congregations linked to such churches draw thousands every week across the state.
The rapid rise of these independent “ministry churches” has created a unique situation in which the faith changes, but the official religious identity of the person often does not.
In January, Punjab Bachao Morcha (PBM), led by its chief Tejasvi Minhas, had held a protest in Chandigarh against these ministry churches, alleging superstition, fraudulent religious practices, and illegal conversions. The protest targeted “self-styled godmen” and “miracle pastors”, accusing them of misleading people with claims of miraculous cures. Protesters alleged that large-scale conversions were being carried out by these churches through inducement, coercion and misrepresentation.
The protesters demanded an updated and accurate census to reflect the actual number of Christians and believers. They said that ground reports from across the state showed a consistent pattern: people attend ministry or independent churches regularly, believe in Christian teachings and miracle healings, but retain their original religious identity on paper.
What is the reaction of these groups to the SC verdict?
Minhas termed the verdict a “much-needed direction” even as he raised concerns about identifying those informal believers who may have embraced Christianity in practice but continue to retain their original religious identity on paper.
“They are baptising people at a large scale who have not changed their religion in official records. Baptism by such churches should be considered a conversion. When a person has undergone baptism and accepts a new religion by heart, it must be treated as a conversion,” he said, adding that a fresh census should be conducted at the earliest to reflect these realities.
Minhas had earlier filed a PIL in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, raising these issues and alleging that hefty amounts are being charged from people in the name of healing and baptism.
How are community leaders and traditional churches viewing the issue?
Community leaders argue that there is “hardly any conversion on paper,” and what exists is a large gathering of believers rather than formally converted individuals.
Traditional churches such as Catholic and Protestant denominations have maintained distance from these independent ministries, pointing to differences in structure, theology and practice.
Tarsem Peter, a member of the Catholic Church, says mainstream churches in Punjab have, to some extent, a democratic setup. “Each church has its own bylaws and constitution, and elections are held at regular intervals. The church is accountable to an elected committee,” he said.
The ministries that have emerged recently, he said, are typically run by a single individual. “The church property is often registered in that individual’s name, and after the head, ownership passes on to their family. While these churches are built with public donations, their leaders are not accountable to any committee,” he added.
Punjab’s ‘faith without conversion’ scenario
“I am the same on paper, but my faith has changed,” is a commonly heard sentiment in Punjab. For those attending such ministries and churches, the belief may shift, but official religious identity does not.
“In Punjab, faith is often practiced but not declared, identity is retained rather than replaced, and belief operates in a private, internal space. Laws can regulate formal declarations, but not personal belief,” says Albert Dua, president of the Christian United Federation.
The Supreme Court verdict has underlined the Constitutional design of the Scheduled Caste status, which is as much a social identity as
a legal recognition defined through the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950.
This means that a person who has converted to Christianity cannot continue to claim protections available to the Scheduled Castes. But Punjab’s unique scenario, in which there is no official conversion, may test this.
The Supreme Court has underlined that caste-based protections do not carry over after conversion to Christianity. Wikimedia Commons 
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