Minority status to Hindus in some states: Centre gets 4 more weeks to reply to PIL

The Ministry of Minority Affairs had filed a counter affidavit in the politically sensitive matter, putting the onus of granting minority status to Hindus upon states, saying even they have the power to declare a group as minority within their jurisdiction.

Allowing the Centre’s request for time, the bench added in the order that “...he (SG) requests for four weeks’ time to place the stand on record on these matters” and fixed May 10 to hear it next.(File)

The Supreme Court on Monday gave the Centre four more weeks “to place its stand” on a plea challenging its power to notify minorities under the National Minorities Commission Act, 1992, and seeking minority status for Hindus in states where their numbers have gone below others, with Solicitor General Tushar Mehta stating that he was yet to go through a counter affidavit filed by the Ministry of Minority Affairs in the matter and sought time for this.

The Ministry of Minority Affairs had filed a counter affidavit in the politically sensitive matter, putting the onus of granting minority status to Hindus upon states, saying even they have the power to declare a group as minority within their jurisdiction.

“I have received the reply, our reply, what stand the department has taken, I could not go through it,” Mehta told a bench of Justices S K Kaul and M M Sundresh, seeking time. Justice Kaul on a lighter note pointed out the reply had already appeared in newspapers and said in the order “learned Solicitor General submits that he will place the stand on the matters on record as he has yet not vetted the affidavit even though it may have appeared in the newspapers”.

“I have not read it…I am not aware of the view of the department,” Mehta said smilingly.

Allowing the Centre’s request for time, the bench added in the order that “…he (SG) requests for four weeks’ time to place the stand on record on these matters” and fixed May 10 to hear it next.

The bench also referred to an Office Report drawn up by its Registry in the matter, which said that the Union Home Ministry, which is a party in the matter, had put the onus of responding to the petition on the Ministry of Minority Affairs. The SG replied that he would check on what really had happened. “I will check up. The Union of India is before your Lordship.”

The court was hearing a plea by Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay who said that as per the 2011 census Hindus were a minority in Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya, J&K, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Punjab and that they should be given minority status in these places, following the principles laid down in the 2002 TMA Pai and 2005 Bal Patil judgments of the SC.

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