Ref: BLH/PM/2026/001
Date: 25th March 2026
To
Shri Narendra Modi
Hon'ble Prime Minister of India
South Block, Raisina Hill, New Delhi – 110 011
Sub:
Formal Representation seeking enactment of a Comprehensive Central Anti-Conversion Law and amendment to the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 — in the light of the Supreme Court Judgment dated 24th March 2026
Most Respected Prime Minister,
I, Veerendrababu Nanjegowda, Senior Advocate practising before the Hon'ble National Green Tribunal, High Courts, and the Supreme Court of India, as well as a Senior Journalist and Author with a deep commitment to Constitutional values, respectfully address this representation to Your Excellency. This letter is necessitated by the urgent need to convert judicial wisdom into legislative action in the national interest.
I. The Landmark Supreme Court Judgment — 24th March 2026
A Division Bench of the Supreme Court of India, comprising Justice P.K. Mishra and Justice N.V. Anjaria, has delivered a landmark judgment on 24th March 2026, upholding the decision of the Hon'ble Andhra Pradesh High Court and dismissing the appeal of Pastor Chintada Anand. The Court categorically declared:
"A person who converts to any religion other than Hinduism, Sikhism, or Buddhism shall not be entitled to retain Scheduled Caste (SC) status under the Constitution of India."
This judgment is not merely a judicial finding in an individual case — it is a reaffirmation of the foundational Constitutional scheme as understood through the Presidential Order (Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950) and decades of jurisprudence. The judgment constitutes a binding precedent that calls for immediate legislative intervention.
II. Constitutional and Legal Framework
The existing legal framework, though well-intentioned, has developed critical gaps that demand urgent Parliamentary remedy. The relevant provisions and precedents are set out below:
Article 341, Constitution of India & Constitution (SC) Order, 1950:
Empowers the President to specify Scheduled Castes by public notification. The 1950 Order restricts SC status to Hindus, Sikhs, and Buddhists — explicitly excluding converted Christians and Muslims. Any person who leaves these three faiths forfeits SC status ipso jure.
Articles 14, 15, 16 & 46 — Equality and Affirmative Action:
Reservation benefits under Articles 15(4) and 16(4) are structured on the premise of historical social discrimination rooted in the Hindu caste system. When a person converts to a religion that doctrinally rejects caste, the constitutional basis for reservation ceases to operate.
SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989:
Enacted to protect genuine SC/ST communities from humiliation, discrimination, and violence. The Act imposes strict liability, immediate arrest, and reversal of burden of proof. Misuse of this powerful statute by persons who have lost SC status — as in the present Supreme Court case — strikes at the heart of justice and erodes public confidence in this vital protection.
Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (1992) 3 SCC 217:
The nine-judge Bench affirmed that reservations are compensatory tools to address historical social disability. The Bench cautioned that reservation benefits must flow only to those who suffer the underlying disability — not to those who have consciously abandoned the social identity that justified the benefit.
Soosai v. Union of India (1985) Supp SCC 590:
A Constitution Bench held that converted Christians of SC origin cannot claim SC status benefits, and that Christianity, as a religious order, does not practise untouchability or caste-based discrimination in principle. The disability that warranted protection does not survive conversion.
Rev. Stainislaus v. State of Madhya Pradesh (1977) 1 SCC 677:
The Supreme Court upheld state anti-conversion laws and authoritatively held that the right to propagate religion under Article 25(1) does NOT include the right to convert another person. This judgment provides the constitutional bedrock for a Central Anti-Conversion Law.
State of Kerala v. N.M. Thomas (1976) 2 SCC 310:
The Supreme Court held that compensatory discrimination must be directly linked to social disadvantage. Once social identity has been altered by voluntary religious conversion, the nexus between the individual and the historical disadvantage is severed.
Ranganath Misra Commission Report, 2007:
While recommending extension of SC status to Dalit Christians and Muslims, the Commission itself acknowledged the constitutional limitation under the 1950 Order. Parliament has consciously not implemented this recommendation — a legislative choice that must now be reinforced by law.
Pastor Chintada Anand v. State of Andhra Pradesh (Supreme Court, March 24, 2026):
The latest judgment conclusively holds that an SC certificate held by a person who has converted to Christianity is invalid and cannot be used to invoke protection under the SC/ST Act. This ruling must be given statutory force at the national level through urgent legislation.
III. The Ground Reality — Documented Misuse
As a practising advocate and journalist, I respectfully place on record the following documented patterns of misuse that Your Excellency's government must urgently address:
Fraudulent retention of SC certificates post-conversion:
Converted individuals continue to hold and use SC certificates to obtain government employment, educational admissions, and loans — directly depriving genuine Dalit Hindu youth of their constitutionally guaranteed opportunities.
Misuse of SC-reserved constituencies:
Multiple instances have been documented where converted Christians have contested and won elections from constituencies reserved exclusively for Scheduled Castes — a grave constitutional fraud.
Filing false cases under the SC/ST Act:
The conviction rate under the SC/ST (POA) Act is only approximately 15–20% nationally, indicating a systemic pattern of false complaints by converted individuals who have lost SC status.
FCRA-funded conversion networks:
FCRA data reveals several organisations receive hundreds of crores annually from foreign sources, a portion allegedly deployed for systematic conversion drives targeting economically vulnerable SC communities through economic inducements, medical camps, and educational facilities.
IV. Specific Legislative Demands
I most respectfully urge Your Excellency to take the following urgent legislative measures:
Demand 1: Enact a Central Anti-Conversion Law
A comprehensive Central legislation — the 'Freedom of Religion (Protection against Fraudulent Conversion) Act' — must be enacted, making conversion by force, fraud, inducement, or allurement a cognizable and non-bailable offence punishable with imprisonment of not less than 3 years extending to 7 years, with enhanced penalty where the victim belongs to an SC/ST community. A uniform Central law is constitutionally mandated under Entry 1, List III (Concurrent List).
Demand 2: Mandatory Digital Cancellation of SC Certificates upon Conversion
Amend relevant statutes to create a mandatory, digital, real-time system for cancellation of caste certificates upon registration of conversion. Make formal registration of conversion mandatory before any civil authority. Link Aadhaar, caste certificates, and conversion records through a National Registry.
Demand 3: Amendment to SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989
Insert a specific provision making it an offence for any person who has lost SC status by reason of conversion to invoke the protections of the Act. Simultaneously, introduce strict punishment for persons filing deliberately false complaints under the Act.
Demand 4: Strengthened Oversight under FCRA, 2010
Constitute a Special Task Force to investigate foreign-funded organisations engaged in conversion activities. Amend FCRA to explicitly prohibit utilisation of foreign contributions for religious conversion activities as a distinct prohibition.
Demand 5: Constitutional Amendment if Necessary
If legislative measures face constitutional challenge under Article 25, consider a targeted Constitutional amendment clarifying that the right to convert others by inducement, allurement, or fraud is not protected under Article 25(1), in line with Rev. Stainislaus v. State of M.P. (1977).
V. Why a Judicial Verdict Alone is Insufficient
A judicial verdict applies case-by-case and requires litigation at individual expense. A Parliamentary statute applies uniformly across the nation with preventive force. The thousands of pending and potential cases of misuse across India demand a legislative solution — not a series of individual court battles. The Hon'ble Supreme Court itself, in Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan (1997) 6 SCC 241, has called upon Parliament to fill legislative voids where fundamental rights are at stake. The present situation is precisely such a void.
VI. Conclusion
The Constitution of India guarantees freedom of religion under Article 25 — a freedom this representation unequivocally respects. However, when the freedom of religion is weaponized to defraud the state, loot reservation benefits, and exploit Dalit communities as instruments of foreign-funded conversion networks, the Constitution is violated — not upheld.
The Supreme Court has spoken. Parliament must now act. I most respectfully urge Your Excellency's Government to take immediate legislative action as demanded herein, and thus give permanent legal force to the constitutional principle that the nation's highest court has reaffirmed.
This representation is submitted in the spirit of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's vision — Educate, Organize, Agitate — to ensure that the hard-won rights of genuine Dalit communities are protected from exploitation, and that India's reservation framework serves those for whom it was truly intended.
Thanking Your Excellency,
Yours faithfully and in service of the Constitution,
Veerendrababu Nanjegowda
Senior Advocate | NGT · High Courts · Supreme Court of India
Senior Journalist | Legal Adviser, R MAXX Kannada News Channel
Author (15+ Published Works) | Filmmaker
Bengaluru Law House, Sahakaranagar, Bengaluru – 560 092
+91 9632527961 | bengalurulawhouse@gmail.com | www.blrlawhouse.com
Place: Bengaluru
Date: 25th March 2026