E-Paper
Minority status: Centre asks SC for more time as 19 states, UTs yet to decide
The Union government asked the court for more time to, saying the matter was sensitive in nature and will have far-reaching ramifications
NEW DELHI: The country-wide consultation with states and union territories on the “sensitive” issue of revisiting minority status of citizens by opening it even to Hindus in states where they are less populated needs more time, the Centre told the Supreme Court in an affidavit filed on Monday.
The response was filed by the Union ministry of minority affairs in a petition by lawyer and Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay seeking minority status to be determined based on the population in every state.
The Centre informed the court that 19 states and union territories are still in the process of consulting various stakeholders while 14 states and four UTs have submitted their opinions.
The matter was listed on Tuesday before a bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and AS Oka but the same could not be taken up as both judges were sitting on a constitution bench.
The affidavit said, “Since the matter is sensitive in nature and will have far-reaching ramifications, this court may kindly consider allowing more time to enable state governments/UTs and stakeholders, with whom the consultative meetings have already been held, to finalize their considered views in the matter.
The last extension was sought by the Centre in August saying the consultative process was still to be completed and all the states were yet to respond.
In its latest status report, the ministry said that Punjab, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Nagaland, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, West Bengal, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu have submitted their responses, besides the UTs of Ladakh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, and Chandigarh.
The Centre has sent a reminder to the remaining 19 states/UTs to furnish their responses at the earliest. “Some states/UTs have requested for additional time to have wider consultation with all stakeholders before they form their considered opinion on the matter,” the affidavit said.
Upadhyay in his petition questioned why minority rights and benefits available to minorities to establish educational institutions were available only to six notified communities – Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis and Jains.
According to him, the Hindus are equally entitled to such benefits as they are merely 1% in Ladakh, 2.75% in Mizoram, 2.77% in Lakshadweep, 4% in Jammu & Kashmir, 8.74% in Nagaland, 11.52% in Meghalaya, 29% in Arunachal Pradesh, 38.49% in Punjab and 41.29% in Manipur. He challenged the validity of the two laws - National Commission for Minorities (NCM) Act, 1992, and the National Commission for Minorities Educational Institutions (NCMEI) Act, 2004 for not recognizing minorities based on population of states.
The Centre has changed its stand on the issue of granting minority status to Hindus. In an affidavit filed on March 28, it dismissed Upadhyay’s plea as “untenable and misconceived in law”. It further stated that Parliament and state legislatures have “concurrent powers to enact law to provide for the protection of minorities and their interests”.
Later, in May, the Centre came with a fresh affidavit recalling its earlier stand and said that the question raised in the petition has “far-reaching ramifications throughout the country”. It suggested that “any stand taken without detailed deliberations with the stakeholders may result in an unintended complication for the country” and sought time to hold wide consultations. The court directed the consultations to be concluded by August 30 but the Centre has been able to get more time.
