Center Argues That Dalit Muslims And Christians Should Not Be Classified As SC Members
According to the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, only adherents of the Hindu, Sikh, or Buddhist faiths are currently granted the constitutional right to reservations in employment and education as a member of the SC community.
The Center claimed that the identification of SC is centered around a specific social stigma and the associated backwardness, which is limited to the communities recognized under the 1950 Order. The Center was attempting to counter the legal challenge to the 1950 Order laid by a batch of petitions that wanted the umbrella of the reservation to be extended also to Dalit people who have converted to Christianity or Islam.
The statement continued by stating that there is no documented research and precise, authenticated information available to prove that the environmental oppressiveness of the disabilities and handicaps experienced by members of Scheduled Castes in their original social structure (Hinduism) still exists.
According to the Centre, if all converts were arbitrarily granted the benefits of reservation without taking into account the issue of social disability, it would result in serious injustice and an abuse of the legal system, ultimately affecting the rights of the SC groups.
It further defended giving Buddhists reservation benefits while denying them to Muslims and Christians by arguing that not only are conversions of a different nature, but it is also possible to determine the original caste of those who convert to Buddhism.
The affidavit informed the court that the Justice Ranganath Mishra Commission’s 2007 report, which supported giving Dalits of all religions SC status, was flawed and that the Centre did not accept it because it was created without conducting any field studies and failed to take into account the impact the inclusion would have on the castes currently listed as SCs.
The government informed the court that it had established a three-member panel headed by former Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan last month to investigate whether Dalit Muslims and Christians should be granted SC status.
The change occurred almost a month after the Centre was ordered to explain its position on petitions that made this demand by a bench chaired by justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul on August 30. Although the case had been pending for 18 years, the Supreme Court declared that the time had come to make a decision on matters that had social implications. Later this month, the court is scheduled to hear this matter.
News Mania Desk
