The Centre has told the Supreme Court that state governments have the authority to identify any religious or linguistic community, including Hindus, as a minority inside the state.
Following the recording of MHA’s statement, a Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul gave the Centre four weeks to identify which ministry should be handling the matter. The Bench, which had imposed a fee of Rs 7,500 on the Centre on January 7 for failing to clarify its position despite repeated reminders, has scheduled a hearing for May 10.
Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay requested directions to frame guidelines identifying minorities at the state level, claiming that Hindus are a minority in ten states and union territories and are unable to access minority schemes.
Upadhyay has sought minority status for Hindus in Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Lakshadweep since Hindus are numerically insignificant in these states and UTs. The petitioner asked the top court to direct the Centre to formulate guidelines for identifying minorities at the state level, claiming Hindus are in the minority in several states and cannot benefit from minorities-only policies.
The Ministry of Minority Affairs has stated in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court that states might designate Hindus as “minority” for the purpose of establishing minority educational institutions. Hindus can be notified as minorities for the purposes of Articles 29 and 30 of the Constitution by state governments in states where they are a minority, it said.
According to the Ministry of Minority Affairs’ affidavit, Parliament has the legislative authority to pass the National Commission for Minorities Act 1992 and the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions Act 2004.
It also backed the Centre’s minority welfare schemes, claiming that there was no constitutional flaw because they were intended for underprivileged pupils and economically deprived members of the minority population, not for everyone.
