The Supreme Court Friday sought the Centre's response on a PIL seeking directions for framing of guidelines identifying minorities at the state level as the Hindus are in a minority in 10 states and are not able to avail the benefits of schemes meant for minorities. A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Ajay Rastogi and Aniruddha Bose issued notices to the Ministries of Home Affairs, Law and Justice, and Minority Affairs and sought replies in six weeks.
Appearing for the petitioner, senior advocate Vikas Singh said Hindus are in minority in 10 states but have not been declared so. The PIL, filed by BJP leader and advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, said it has also challenged the validity of Section 2(f) of the National Commission for Minority Education Institution Act 2004, for giving unbridled power to the Centre and being manifestly arbitrary, irrational and offending.
The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, said denial of benefits to the "real" minorities and arbitrary and unreasonable disbursements under schemes meant for them to the absolute majority, infringes upon the fundamental right under the Constitution. "Direct and declare that followers of Judaism, Bahaism & Hinduism, who are minorities in Laddakh, Mizoram, Lakshdweep, Kashmir, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Punjab and Manipur, can establish & administer educational institutions of their choice in spirit of the TMA Pai Ruling," the plea said.
The apex court in TMA Pai Foundation case held that the state is well within its rights to introduce a regulatory regime in the national interest to provide minority educational institutions with well-qualified teachers in order for them to achieve excellence in education. Quoting Article 30 of the Constitution, the plea said that minorities whether based on religion or language shall have the right to establish-administer educational institutions of their choice. "Rational basis of declaring certain religions as minority by Central government as they have less population in the States is contravened when benefits of schemes for minority are acquired by those religious minorities in states where they are in majority and those religious communities who are actually minorities are not been given equal status," the plea said.
The petition said that denial of minority rights to actual religious and linguistic minorities is a violation of right of minority enshrined under Articles 14 (equality before the law) and 21 (No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law).
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