Supreme Court Defers Hearing Of Plea Seeking Minority Status For Hindus In Some States At Centre's Request; To Be Heard On Oct 19th

The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, deferred the hearing of the plea seeking minority status for Hindus in States where they are numerically less in number by six weeks, at the request of the Union Government.

The Central Government had filed an affidavit on 29th August, 2022, stating that it has already held meetings with the State governments of Nagaland, Punjab, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, along with the UTs of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh with inputs from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of Legal affairs of Ministry of Law and Justice, Department of Higher Education of Ministry of Education, National Commission for minorities and National Commission for minority educational institution. As per the affidavit, the State governments of Punjab, Mizoram, Meghalaya and the UR of Ladakh have already furnished their comments and views. However, the comments and views of the State Government of Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, UT of Jammu and Kashmir are yet to be received. Moreover, the response is awaited from the States of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.

Considering that the process of consultation is underway, a Bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and A.S. Oka has listed the matter for hearing on 19th October, 2022.

Senior Advocate, Mr. Vikas Singh appearing on behalf of the petitioner, submitted that according to him the stand taken by the Union Government is 'a little funny'. He argued that the effect of the judgment of the Apex Court in TMA Pai's case was that the Central Government now cannot confer minority status.

"...But, after TMA Pai, the Central Govt can't do it. So really speaking what deliberation they are doing cannot confer minority status."

Justice Kaul was of the opinion that it is not a straitjacket formula and granted time to the Union Government to carry out the deliberations.

In the first affidavit filed by the Ministry of Minority Affairs it was disclosed that the States in which Hindus are in minority can notify them as minorities for the purposes of Articles 29 & 30 of the Constitution of India. In a subsequent affidavit it had submitted that the Centre had the power to notify minorities but wider consultations were needed to finalize its position on the issue. On 10th May, 2022, when the matter came up before the Apex Court, it took exception to the Centre changing its stand and directed it to place on record a status report on the consultation process with States within 3 months. In view of the same the affidavit dated 29.08.2022 was filed by the Centre seeking some more time to complete the consultation process.

[Case Title : Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay versus Union of India WRIT PETITION (C) NO. 836 OF 2020]

Click Here To Read/Download Order