The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to examine the legality of a petition seeking reservation for those Scheduled Castes who converted to Christianity.

The SC said it was a crucial issue requiring examination, even though the government had informed it that the issue was out of the court's purview.

Attorney General Milon Bannerjee informed the court that he had requested the government to consider the issue sympathetically.

However, the government was of the view that any amendment to the Presidential Order of 1950, which includes communities in the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes category, was not justiciable in the court. The court cannot add or subtract communities to the list, the government said.

Bannerjee said, "It is purely a policy and legislative matter for the government to consider and the court should keep out of it."