The Madras High court came to the rescue of a woman, R.Ayesha, a muslim convertee. She was denied a government job, as her ‘Backward class’ status was rejected.
Ayesha, a Hindu woman of backward class, by birth, converted to Islam in 2005; upon which she received a community certificate stating that she belonged to the Muslim Labbai community. Muslim Labbai is a recognized BC community as per a July 19, 1994 government order.
In December 2014, when Ayesha wrote the examination for junior assistant/typist posts, she was called for certificate verification and her application was rejected (at the verification stage) on the ground, that she was not eligible for the post, not being a Muslim by birth.
“A Hindu backward class person, who embraces Islam, shall be considered as backward class Muslim”- , Based on this ruling, Justice D Hariparanthaman, passed orders, directing Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission to accept Ayesha’s application.
He maintained that Ayesha’s case was not the first of its kind. He had passed orders in MU Aariffaa’s case too (which was similar to Ayesha’s case) after referring to various Supreme Court rulings.
In its defense, TNPSC said that Ayesh’a application was rejected based on the fact that she was 32 years of age, when the upper age limit was only 30, and could have applied in the ‘Others’ category.
Ayesha , however, is eligible if she is considered BC Muslim, and not under open category, according to Women’s counsel, based on a similar verdict given by Justice D Hariparantham, earlier.