Pastor loses Scheduled Caste status for practising Christianity; his caste certificates are cancelled
A Dalit pastor who said he was assaulted and warned to stop holding Sunday prayer meetings lost the protection of the anti-atrocities law because he practises Christianity. On 24 March 2026 the Supreme Court held that conversion ends Scheduled Caste status 'from the moment of conversion'. On 23 May 2026 the Bapatla district collector cancelled his three caste certificates.
This page records what the cited court records and reports say happened. Findings belong to the court or authority that made them; this register adds none of its own. Names of private individuals are withheld unless a naming gate clears them.
How we verify →Scheduled Caste status held lost by the Supreme Court (24 March 2026); caste certificates cancelled by the Bapatla district collector (gazette of 23 May 2026, as reported).
What happened
The Supreme Court recorded that the appellant, from Kothapalem village in Pittalavanipalem mandal, belongs by birth to the Madiga community, a Scheduled Caste, and had for about ten years been conducting Sunday prayer meetings as a pastor in houses in the village.
He alleged that in January 2021 men from the village assaulted him, abused him by caste and 'warned him against continuing the prayer meetings'. Chandole police registered FIR No. 08 of 2021 under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the Indian Penal Code and filed a charge sheet.
On 30 April 2025 the High Court of Andhra Pradesh quashed the case, holding that a person who 'had been openly professing Christianity and working as a Pastor' cannot claim protection under the SC/ST Act. On 24 March 2026 a Supreme Court bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Manmohan dismissed his appeal. It held that under paragraph 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, only Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists can be members of a Scheduled Caste, and that no statutory benefit or protection tied to caste status can be extended to anyone else.
News reports say that after the ruling a District Level Scrutiny Committee enquired into his caste status, and that on its recommendation the Bapatla District Collector cancelled three certificates issued to him (dated 15 March 2021, 22 October 2022 and 28 February 2025) with immediate effect, by an Extraordinary Gazette notification dated 23 May 2026.
The Supreme Court also agreed with the High Court that the investigation material did not support the assault and intimidation allegations. This record takes no view on those allegations; it concerns the holding that his religion alone removes his caste status.
What the Supreme Court held
“No person who professes a religion other than Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist shall be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste. This bar under Clause 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 is categorical and absolute. Conversion to any religion not specified in Clause 3 results in immediate and complete loss of Scheduled Caste status from the moment of conversion regardless of birth.”
Supreme Court of India, 2026 INSC 283 (Criminal Appeal No. 1580 of 2026), conclusions (b) — read the full text
A status that depends on faith
A Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist of the same caste keeps Scheduled Caste status and the legal protections that go with it; a Christian or Muslim loses them. The pastor's certificates were cancelled because of the religion he practises, which makes this a penalty on professing a faith.
What we could not confirm
We have not located the 23 May 2026 gazette notification online; its details come from news reports that quote it. The Supreme Court judgment is the primary record.