‘Taking totally different stands doesn’t assist’: SC to Centre on identification of minorities

By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday mentioned the difficulty of identification of minorities, together with Hindus, on the state stage wants a decision and noticed that taking totally different stands does not assist.

In supersession of its earlier stand, the Centre had on Monday instructed the apex court docket that the facility to inform minorities is vested with the Union authorities and any choice on this regard might be taken after dialogue with states and different stakeholders.

A bench of Justices S Ok Kaul and M M Sundresh on Tuesday mentioned these are issues which require decision and every thing can’t be adjudicated.

“What I am unable to understand is Union of India is not able to decide what to do. All this thought should have been given before. This creates uncertainty and all this comes into public domain before we put our eyes on it. This creates another problem,” the bench mentioned.

As the listening to commenced, a junior counsel sought move over saying that Solicitor General Tushar Mehta was busy in another court docket.

Senior advocate C S Vaidyanathan, showing for the petitioner, referred to the affidavit filed by the Centre.

The bench then noticed,”If the Centre wants to consult states, we will have to take a call. Solution can’t be that everything is so complex, we will do so. This cannot be answer from the Government of India. You decide what you want to do. If you want to consult them do it. Who is stopping you from doing so?”

“These are matters which require resolution. Taking different stands doesn’t help. If Consultation is required, it should have been done before the affidavit was filed. Let the Solicitor General come here,” the bench mentioned.

The matter will taken up once more after a while.

The apex court docket had earlier granted 4 weeks to the Centre to reply to a plea, which has sought instructions for framing of tips for the identification of minorities on the state stage, contending that Hindus are a minority in 10 states.

In an affidavit filed in response to a plea filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, the Ministry of Minority Affairs mentioned the central authorities has notified six communities as minority underneath part 2C of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.

“It is submitted that the question involved in the writ petition has far-reaching ramifications throughout the country and therefore any stand taken without detailed deliberations with the stakeholders may result in an unintended complication for the country.”

“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,” the Centre mentioned.

The ministry mentioned this may be certain that the central authorities is ready to place a thought of view earlier than the apex court docket bearing in mind a number of social, logical, and different points obviating any unintended problems sooner or later regarding such a significant subject.

The Ministry of Minority Affairs had earlier instructed the apex court docket that state governments can declare any non secular or linguistic group, together with Hindus, a minority throughout the mentioned state.

The ministry had additionally submitted that issues regarding whether or not followers of Hinduism, Judaism, and Bahaism can set up and administer academic establishments of their selection within the mentioned states and people associated to their identification as a minority throughout the state could also be thought of on the state stage.

Upadhyay had challenged the validity of part 2(f) of the National Commission for Minority Education Institution Act, 2004, alleging that it provides unbridled energy to the Centre and termed it “manifestly arbitrary, irrational, and offending”.

Section 2(f) of the Act empowers the Centre to determine and notify minority communities in India.

The plea, filed by way of advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, mentioned denial of advantages to “real” minorities and “arbitrary and unreasonable” disbursements underneath schemes meant for them to absolutely the majority infringe upon their elementary proper.

“In the alternative, direct and declare that followers of Judaism, Bahaism, and Hinduism, who are minorities in Ladakh, Mizoram, Lakshadweep, Kashmir, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Manipur, can establish and administer educational institutions of their choice in the spirit of the TMA Pai Ruling,” the plea mentioned.

The apex court docket within the TMA Pai Foundation case had held that the state is effectively inside its rights to introduce a regulatory regime within the nationwide curiosity to supply minority academic establishments with well-qualified academics for them to realize excellence in training.

Quoting Article 30 of the Constitution, the plea mentioned that minorities whether or not based mostly on faith or language shall have the best to ascertain or administer academic establishments of their selection.

The petition mentioned that denial of minority rights to precise non secular and linguistic minorities is a violation of the rights of minorities enshrined underneath Articles 14 and 21 (no individual shall be disadvantaged of his life or private liberty besides in line with process established by legislation) of the Constitution.

The apex court docket had earlier allowed a plea in search of switch of circumstances from a number of excessive courts to it in opposition to the Centre’s notification to declare 5 communities — Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Parsis — as minorities and tagged the matter with the primary petition.