The Supreme Court was told by the Centre that meetings were held with all state governments, Union territories and other stakeholders on the issue of identification of minorities at the state level. The centre also informed that about 14 states have furnished their views till date.
The centre said that the rest of the states have not replied as the matter is very sensitive in nature and has far-reaching ramifications.
It added that many states are still deciding on data dissemination.
A Bench comprising of Justice S K Kaul and Justice A S Oka have given six-week time to the Centre to place on record the stand in the matter.
The Court has asked for the status report filed by the Ministry of Minority Affairs which asks for additional time to have wider consultations with all the stake holders before they form their considered opinion on the issue.
The Apex Court was hearing the pleas, including the one that Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay has filed asking for , framing guidelines for identification of minorities at the state level. The Advocate has marked 10 states as Hindu minority states.
During the hearing, Upadhyay told the bench that he has challenged the validity of section 2(f) of the National Commission for Minority Education Institution Act, 2004 which gives power to the Centre to identify and notify minority communities in India, as “manifestly arbitrary, irrational, and offending.
The bench said that it needs sometime to delve into the comments by 14 States, and it cannot be decided suddenly.
Upadhyay cited a 2007 judgement of Allahabad High Court on a plea seeking quashing of May 2004 order passed by the state of Uttar Pradesh recognising 67 Madarsa for grant-in-aid. He said the high court verdict of 2007 has not been challenged.
The Bench questioned if minority status be decided district-wise and how should it be done
The Top Court has instructed the 19 states and Union territories, which have not yet given their comments to communicate their stand with Government within the stipulated time frame.
The Ministry of Minority Affairs in its status report said that the Centre has had meetings with all state governments, and other stakeholders including the ministries of Home, Law and Justice, Education, the National Commission for Minorities and the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions.
As per the status report the 14 states which have sent forth their views are Punjab, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Nagaland, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, West Bengal, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and three Union Territories namely Ladakh, Dadar and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu and Chandigarh.
A reminder has been issued to the remaining 19 state governments/UTs as a reminder to these states requesting them to furnish their comments/views at the earliest so that the considered comments/views can be placed before this court.
On May 10, the Apex Court had expressed displeasure over the Centre’s shifting stand on the issue of identification of minorities, including Hindus, at the state level and directed it to hold consultations with the states within three months.
Earlier, the Union government had submitted before the top court of the country that the state governments also have the power to declare a religious or linguistic community as a ‘minority community’ within the concerned state.
Citing the example of the government of Maharashtra, the Central government said the state had notified ‘Jews’ as a minority community within Maharashtra in July, 2016.