Plea in Supreme Court challenges move to set up Commission to look into SC quota for religious converts
Dec 28, 2022
New Delhi [India], December 28 : A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the formation of a three-member Commission to examine whether it would be possible to accord Scheduled Caste status to Dalits who have over the years converted to Christianity or Islam.
As per the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 (amended from time to time) no person professing a religion other than Hinduism or Sikhism, or Buddhism can be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste.
The plea filed by advocate Pratap Baburao Pandit said he was a Christian of Scheduled Caste origin belonging to the Mahar community.
He has challenged the formation of a Commission headed by former Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan to examine giving Scheduled Caste status to people who claim to have historically belonged to the SCs but have converted to Christianity or Islam.
The petitioner sought a stay on the functioning of the Commission and prayed the notification forming it be quashed.
He contended that the Union government has over the years formed multiple Commissions dating back to the first Backward Classes Commission (1955) on this subject who have already pronounced the need for according to SC status to Dalits who have converted to Islam or Christianity.
The petition stated that the appointment of a new commission will further delay the hearing of the issue in the top court. The top court is already seized a number of petitions which were filed in 2004.
Because all existing Commission reports and studies conducted so far supported the petitioners' position that SC status should be accorded to Dalit Christians and Muslims, the plea said, "the appointment of the new Commission can be with an intention of getting a biased report that favours the position taken by the Union government."
"The petitioner is aggrieved because the main writ petition and related petitions are pending for past 18 years. The apprehension of the petitioner is that if the present commission is allowed, the hearing on the main petition may be further delayed causing irreparable damage to the Christians of Scheduled caste origin, who are denied this SC privileges for the last 72 years. It is also affecting the fundamental rights of the affected community, giving speedy justice is mandatory as per Article 21."
According to a gazette notification issued by the Social Justice and Empowerment ministry, besides Justice Balakrishnan, the three-member panel includes retired IAS officer Ravinder Kumar Jain and member UGC Professor Sushma Yadav.
The Commission will examine the matter of giving Scheduled Caste status to new persons, who claim to have historically belonged to the Scheduled Castes but have converted to a religion other than those mentioned in the Presidential Orders issued from time to time under Article 341 of the Constitution.
The Centre had earlier told the top court that the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 does not suffer from any "unconstitutionality" and the exclusion of Christianity and Islam was due to the reason that the "oppressive system" of untouchability was not prevalent in either of these two religions.
