By conversion, a person cannot acquire the social status that is normally available to persons already professing that religion, and the original caste remains under eclipse and automatically revives upon re-conversion to the original religion.

1. The petitioner was born to a couple belonging to Christian Nadar community classified as backward community. It appears that she converted herself to Islam and married a Muslim gentleman.

2. In response to the Notification issued by the Tamilnadu Public Service Commission calling for applications for selection to Group IV Services in the State of Tamilnadu, issued in April 2012, the petitioner applied. She was successful in the written examination conducted on 7.7.2012 and hence, by a communication dated 30.11.2012, she was invited for counselling and verification of certificates held on 26.12.2012.

3. At the time of counselling, the petitioner was informed that since she converted herself from Christianity to Islam, she will be treated as a candidate belonging to 'other communities' not entitled to any reservation. Subsequently, the same was also confirmed by the Public Information Officer of the Tamilnadu Public Service Commission by a communication dated 11.2.2013, holding that the candidature of the petitioner stood rejected, as she had crossed the upper age limit of 30 years, which was fixed for open category candidates. The upper age limit fixed for backward communities was 35 and the petitioner had completed 31 years 2 months and 9 days on the crucial date. Therefore, challenging the said communication, the petitioner has come up with the above writ petition seeking issue of a Writ of Mandamus to direct the respondents to treat her as a candidate belonging to backward community (Muslim).

4. I have heard Ms. Sudarshana Sundar, learned counsel for the petitioner and Ms. C.N.G. Niraimathi, learned counsel appearing for the respondents.

5. There are no disputes on facts. The fact that the petitioner hailed from a family of Christian Nadars categorised as a backward class community, the fact that she got converted to Islam and married a Muslim gentleman and the fact that she had crossed the age of 30 years are all admitted on both sides. If the petitioner is treated as a candidate belonging to backward communities, she would have been treated as within the upper age limit for recruitment. Her candidature is today rejected only on the ground that she is treated as a candidate belonging to 'other categories', for whom, the upper age limit is fixed only as 30.

6. The stand taken by the respondents is:-

(i) that once a person gets converted from one religion to another religion, the community status that he or she originally had would stand eclipsed during the period of continuance in the converted religion; and

(ii) that by converting into another religion, a person cannot acquire a social status of backwardness.

7. In the light of such a stand, two questions arise for consideration namely

(a) whether a person, upon conversion from one religion to another, can claim the social status of backwardness enjoyed by persons, belonging to such sects in that religion? and

(b) whether, upon conversion from one religion to another religion, the convert would lose out of the social status enjoyed before conversion?

8. A similar issue came up before me in two writ petitions W.P.Nos.9150 and 10859 of 2012, while sitting in Madurai Bench of Madras High Court. In that case also, the writ petitioners earlier belonged to Hindu Nadar community and had got converted into Islam. Without going into the merits of the issues in detail, I allowed both the writ petitions by an order dated 10.1.2013, following a judgment rendered by Vinod K.Sharma,J on 20.1.2011 in W.P.No.21864 of 2010. Apart from following the decision of Vinod K.Sharma,J, I pointed out one more thing, namely

(i) that the right of a person to profess any religion, which includes a right to get converted, is a Fundamental Right; and

(ii) that when such conversion is genuine and not created as a make belief affair for the purpose of getting some benefit, the benefits that go along with conversion cannot be deprived.

9. In the light of the decision that I had already taken at M