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Chinthada Anand v. State of Andhra Pradesh

Criminal Appeal · 2026 INSC 283Decided 24 Mar 2026
Crl.A. No.-001580-001580 - 2026
Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra · Justice Manmohan · Justice N.V. Anjaria

Background

The appellant, born into the Madiga Scheduled Caste community but a practicing Christian Pastor for about a decade, alleged that in January 2021 he was assaulted, verbally abused with caste slurs, and threatened by a group of villagers (respondent nos. 2 to 7) while conducting and returning from Sunday prayer meetings. He filed an FIR invoking the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act along with IPC offences of wrongful restraint, hurt, and criminal intimidation. The Andhra Pradesh High Court quashed the entire criminal proceeding, holding that as a practicing Christian he could not claim the protection of the SC/ST Act (since caste status is tied to specified religions under the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950) and that the witness statements did not sufficiently corroborate the IPC allegations either. The appellant challenged this quashing before the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and upheld the High Court's quashing order in full. On the SC/ST Act charges, the Court laid down detailed principles holding that conversion to a religion other than Hindu, Sikh, or Buddhist results in immediate and complete loss of Scheduled Caste status under Clause 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, regardless of birth, and that this status can only be regained through proven bona fide reconversion coupled with acceptance by the original community: none of which the appellant had established, since he remained a practicing Pastor. On the IPC charges, applying the settled Bhajan Lal guidelines for quashing criminal proceedings, the Court found that the allegations of restraint, assault, and threats rested almost entirely on the appellant's own uncorroborated statement, with independent witnesses either absent from the scene or giving accounts that contradicted the claim of a large mob attack, making continuation of the prosecution an abuse of process.

Lesson Learnt

A person who has genuinely converted to a religion not recognised under the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 (i.e., other than Hindu, Sikh, or Buddhist) loses Scheduled Caste status and the protections of the SC/ST Act unless he proves a bona fide reconversion accepted by his original community; separately, criminal proceedings resting solely on an uncorroborated complainant account, contradicted by independent witnesses, can be quashed as an abuse of process even before trial.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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