Demand to make Presidential Order 1950 religion-neutral still pending before the Supreme Court …

The demand to grant Scheduled Caste (SC) status to Dalit Christians and Muslims is currently being heard by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India through multiple petitions.

These cases challenge the discriminatory provision of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 which states that only those persons of SC communities professing the faith of Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism will be entitled to privileges granted to Schedule Caste communities. The Hon’ble Supreme Court has set up a 3 judge bench to hear the batch matters and these are now pending adjudication.

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Adv Prashant Bhushan has strengthened the case by raising important constitutional and human rights concerns. The National Council of Churches in India (NCCI), the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), and few others have also impleaded as party in the case, showing the involvement of the Church in seeking justice for Dalit Christians.

At the same time, the Government of India has appointed the K. G. Balakrishnan Commission to study the issue raised in the petitions including the stigma of caste despite conversion and submit a comprehensive report. NCCI along with CBCI, NCDC and many other Dalit Christian groups has submitted reports to the Justice BalaKrishnan Commission in 2025. The Commission is yet to submit its report.

It is important to distinguish these ongoing matters raising important Constitutional issues from the recent judgment in Chinthada Anand vs. State of Andhra Pradesh (2026), which dealt only with the applicability of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in a specific case, and to note that this recent judgement should not ordinarily affect the broader question of SC status for Dalit Christians.

The issue of SC status for persons of SC communities professing Christian faith is still pending before the Hon’ble Supreme Court and the NCCI is committed to get a favourable decision on the matter . . .

Rev. Asir Ebenezer
General Secretary