Identification of minorities: SC to hear pleas on Monday

New Delhi: A Supreme Court bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Ahsanuddin Amanullah will take up for hearing the petitions raising various issues related to the identification of minorities at the state level on Monday, PTI reported.

The petitions include those challenging the constitutional validity of the National Minority Commission Act, 1992 and the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutes Act, 2004.

One among the petitioners, advocate and BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay, has sought directions for framing guidelines for the identification of minorities at the state level, contending that Hindus are in the minority in 10 states.

A status report by the Ministry of Minority Affairs said that in one of its petitions, the petitioner has prayed to put restrain on the Government of India from placing reliance/acting upon and implementing the Sachar Committee report, submitted on November 17, 2006, for running/initiating any scheme/s in favour of Muslim community or for any other purpose".

Upadhyay has challenged the validity of section 2(f) of the National Commission for Minority Education Institution Act, 2004. He had argued that section 2(f) gave unbridled power to the Centre and called it "manifestly arbitrary, irrational, and offending". The section empowers the Centre to identify and notify minority communities in India.

Upadhyay had earlier referred to a 2007 judgement of the Allahabad High Court on a plea seeking the quashing of the May 2004 order passed by Uttar Pradesh recognising 67 madrassas for grant-in-aid.

He had said the high court verdict of 2007 has not been challenged.