Who can be Scheduled Caste? The 1950 religion clause, and where the question stands

Which castes count as Scheduled Castes is decided by Presidential Orders. The first, the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, was made “in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 341 of the Constitution”. It lists castes state by state. Its third paragraph adds a condition about religion. That paragraph decides whether a Dalit who changes religion stays inside the category or falls outside it.

What the clause says

The Order was published in the Gazette of India on 11 August 1950. Its paragraph 3 read:

“Notwithstanding anything contained in paragraph 2, no person who professes a religion different from Hinduism shall be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste”.

A proviso made one exception: members of four Sikh castes “resident in Punjab or the Patiala and East Punjab States Union” were to be deemed Scheduled Castes in that state “whether he professes the Hindu or the Sikh religion”.

How it has changed

According to the footnotes to the government’s consolidated text, an Act of Parliament of 1956 (Act 63 of 1956) replaced paragraph 3. The 1990 Act, which changed the words “or the Sikh”, shows that the 1956 wording covered Sikhs as well as Hindus. In 1990, the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders (Amendment) Act replaced the words “or the Sikh” with ”, the Sikh or the Buddhist”. The President gave assent on 3 June 1990.

The text in force, in a consolidation the government published in 2024, reads:

“Notwithstanding anything contained in paragraph 2, no person who professes a religion different from the Hindu, the Sikh or the Buddhist religion shall be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste.”

Christianity and Islam are not among the religions named. A Dalit who professes either falls outside the paragraph.

The inquiry

On 6 October 2022, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment appointed a Commission of Inquiry under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952. Its chair is Justice K. G. Balakrishnan, a former Chief Justice of India, with Dr Ravinder Kumar Jain and Professor Sushma Yadav as members. The notice says that “certain groups have raised the question of revisiting the existing definition of Scheduled Castes” by giving the status to people “who belong to other religions beyond those permitted through Presidential Orders”. It records that “many other groups have also opposed the same”, and that “certain representatives of the existing Scheduled Castes have objected”. It calls the matter “a seminal and historically complex sociological and constitutional question”.

The Commission was asked to examine three things:

• giving Scheduled Caste status to people “who claim to historically have belonged to the Scheduled Castes, but have converted to religion other than those mentioned in the Presidential Orders”
• “the implications on the existing Scheduled Castes” of adding them
• “the changes Scheduled Caste persons go through on converting to other religions in terms of their customs, traditions, social and other status discrimination and deprivation”

It was given two years. At the Commission’s request, the government extended its term to 10 October 2025, then to 10 April 2026. This brief found no official record that the Commission has submitted its report.

The court case

Petitions on the question have been pending before the Supreme Court for years. They include appeals and writ petitions numbered from 2004 onwards, heard together. On 7 December 2022, a bench of three judges recorded the government’s reply: the government “had not accepted the Ranganath Mishra Commission’s Report and has now recently constituted a new Commission”. The court said the first question was “whether this Court should stay its hands till the report of this Commission comes or whether it should proceed on the basis of the material on record”. It listed the matter for January 2023.

What this brief does not show

This brief explains what the official texts say. It does not decide whether the clause is right, and it gives no account of why Parliament added Sikhs and Buddhists: the 1956 and 1990 changes are known here only from their wording. It does not report what the earlier reports recommended, because they could not be read. It does not report what the Commission or the court has done since the latest records this brief could reach.

The documents

• The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 (C.O. 19), Ministry of Law notification S.R.O. 385, 10 August 1950, Gazette of India Extraordinary No. 371, 11 August 1950. Text
• The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, consolidated text with amendments, published 2024. Text
• The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders (Amendment) Act, 1990, No. 15 of 1990, Gazette of India Extraordinary, 4 June 1990. Text
• Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, S.O. 4742(E), 6 October 2022, appointing the Commission. Text
• Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, S.O. 4780(E), 30 October 2024, extending its term. Text
• Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, S.O. 5000(E), 4 November 2025, extending its term. Text
• Supreme Court of India, Record of Proceedings, Civil Appeal Nos. 329-330 of 2004 with connected matters, 7 December 2022. Text