Revising its earlier affidavit, the central government on May 10, 2022 said that it had the power to notify minorities, but requires time to consult with state governments and other stakeholders. In the earlier affidavit to the Supreme Court, it had said that states can declare Hindus as a minority if they are numerically less in number.
The government took this decision to avoid “unintended complications in future”. The Ministry of Minority Affairs said that the decision has far-reaching ramifications throughout India and as such requires detailed deliberations.
The court recorded the Centre’s submission in its order as “… the question involved in this writ petition has far reaching ramifications throughout the Country and therefore any stand taken without detailed deliberations with stakeholders may result in unintended complications throughout the country.”
Meanwhile, the Indian Express reported Justice S K Kaul, presiding over a two-judge bench comprising Justice M M Sundresh, said that the Centre seemed to be backing out of what was stated earlier. He stressed that the court did not appreciate this.
The document was filed in response to a plea by Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay who sought minority status for practitioners of Hinduism, Bahaism and Judaism, in states like Mizoram, Kashmir, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Punjab, Manipur and union territories of Ladakh and Lakshadweep, reported LiveLaw.
According to the Indian Express, Upadhyay had first approached the top court with the demand for minority status for Hindus in 2017, and was sent to the National Commission For Minorities (NCM). The NCM told Upadhyay that only the Centre could grant the relief he was seeking. Accordingly, his current petition questioned the competence of the Parliament to enact the NCM Act 1992 and NCM Educational Institutions Act 2004 and the Centre’s powers to notify minorities.
The Ministry’s previous affidavit filed on March 28 said that Hindus in some states may be notified as a minority for the purposes of Articles 29 and 30 by concerned governments. Since states have the power to notify minorities, the argument that ‘real minorities’ in specified states are denied the protection of minority rights is untenable, the Centre said. As examples, it talked about states notifying religious and linguistic minorities.
The fresh three-page affidavit by Ministry Secretary Renuka Kumar said, “Though the power is vested with the central government to notify minorities, the stand to be formulated by the central government with regard to issues raised in this group of petitions will be finalised after having a wide consultation with the state governments and other stakeholders. This will ensure that the central government is able to place a considered view before this court taking into consideration several sociological and other aspects obviating any unintended complications in future with regard to such a vital issue.”
Earlier, the court fined the Centre with ₹ 7,500 for delay in complying. The Centre then sought to shift the onus on states and asked to dismiss Upadhyay’s plea. The Ministry said, “The reliefs sought by the petitioner are not in larger public or national interest.”
However on March 28, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta again sought time from a bench presided by Justice S K Kaul to submit a new affidavit. The court granted him four weeks, which again the Centre failed to comply with and submitted the document on March 9, a day before the scheduled date of hearing.
On Tuesday, a bench headed by Justice SK Kaul heard the matter. On the previous hearing date, the bench sought clarity as to which Ministry should respond – the Ministry of Home Affairs or the Ministry of Minority Affairs? The former is arrayed as the first respondent in the case but has no role in the matter because the NCM and NCM for Minority Educational Institutions come under the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Minority Affairs respectively.
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