SC gives more time to Centre to clarify stand on declaration of minorities

The Supreme Court on Monday gave more time to the Centre to clarify its stand on a plea against its power to notify minorities under the National Minorities Commission Act, 1992, and also seeking minority status for Hindus in states, where their numbers are less than others.

A day after Ministry of Minority Affairs said states can declare Hindus as minority if their number is less than the others, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, submitted, "I have received the reply……what stand the department has taken, I could not go through it."

A bench presided over by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, however, pointed out the reply from the Ministry of Minority Affairs has been carried by the newspapers.

Also Read | Who are minorities and what benefits do they get?

On this, Mehta said he has not gone through the counter affidavit by the ministry so far and asked the court to grant some more time in the matter.

In its response to a PIL by BJP leader and advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, the Ministry of Minority Affairs, in an affidavit, said, “The state governments can also declare a religious or linguistic community as a minority community within the said state. For instance, the government of Maharashtra has notified Jews as a minority community within the state of Maharashtra." It also gave the example of Karnataka, which had declared several communities as linguistic minorities.

The Ministry said that certain states, where Hindus or other communities are less in number, can declare them a minority community within its territory, to enable them to set up and administer their own institutions.

The bench, in its order, said SG submits that he will place the stand on the matter on record as he has yet not vetted the affidavit, even though it may have appeared in the newspapers.

Also Read | States with less Hindus can declare them as minority: Centre to SC

At this point, Mehta again said, “I have not read it…I am not aware of the view of the department."

Senior advocate Vikas Singh, representing the petitioner, said “This National Commission of Minorities Act will have to go. And, they will have to come up with something like RERA, where every state will have to have these committees."

Singh further that the SC judgements in the TMA Pai judgement, as well as the Bal Patil, said it can be done only by the state and can’t be done by the Centre at all.

The bench also pointed out to an official report by its registry that the home ministry, a party in the petition, had put the onus of responsibility on the Ministry of Minority Affairs. The bench told Mehta, “There is also some office report that some department has written, this does not per se pertains to our department, Home Ministry has written…what is all this……." Mehta replied that he will look into the issue.

The bench told Mehta that if the government wanted to implead a particular ministry that could have been done.

Mehta said, “Absolutely, we could have requested it. I’m not aware, nor is my friend Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj."

The top court put the matter for further hearing on May 10, while giving four weeks’ time to the Centre to place its stand before it.

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