SC status to Dalit converts

The exclusion in 1950 order is arbitrary in law: says Jamiat lawyer in Supreme Court

We seek equal status looking into current social issues not based on Islamic dogmatism which professes equality: Maulana Mahmood Madani

Press Release

New Delhi December 7, 2022 :/ The Supreme Court on Wednesday adjourned to January next year a batch of petitions seeking reservations for those Dalits who converted to Islam and Christianity.

The Court said it would first decide whether it should await the report of an Inquiry Commission under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952 headed by former Chief Justice of India (CJI) K.G. Balakrishnan in this regard.

A three-judge bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Abhay S. Oka and Vikram Nath passed the order to this effect after Solicitor General(SG) Tushar Mehta told the Court that the government has not accepted the 2007 report submitted by National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities, headed by former CJI Ranganath Mishra, which had recommended 10 per cent reservations for Muslims and five per cent reservations for other minorities in government jobs, and favoured extending SC status to Dalits of all religions.

Mr C U Singh Sr Advocate briefed by Mr M R Shamshad appeared in Court for Jamiat Umami-i-Hind (in an application signed by Moulana Mahmood Madani Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind president).

Mr C U Singh submitted that the Presidential Order of 1950 (excluding converts to Islam) from the scope of the status is arbitrary in law, though the concept of Islam may not recognize the caste system.

It is a human issue in the society we live in. Advocate Prashant Bhush and Senior advocate Raju Ramachandran, for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, an intervening party, supported the petition

On October 7, the Union Government set up an Inquiry Commission under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952 to examine the matter of according Scheduled Caste (‘SC’) status to new persons, who claim to historically have belonged to the SCs, 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 Constitution(Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, under Article 341, mandates that no person professing a religion different from Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism can be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste.

The Commission is headed by former Chief Justice of India (‘CJI’) K.G. Balakrishnan, and comprises former Indian Administrative Service officer, Dr. Ravinder Kumar Jain and University Grants Commission member, Prof. (Dr.) Sushma Yadav, as its members.

The Commission is to examine the implications of adding such new persons into the existing list of SCs, besides examining the changes SC persons go through on converting to other religions in terms of their customs, traditions, social and other status discrimination and deprivation.

The government has asked the commission to submit its report within two years. The government’s order states that “given its importance, sensitivity and potential impact, any change in definition in this regard should be on the basis of a detailed and definitive study and extensive consultation with all stakeholders.”

The order states that no Commission under the Commissions of Inquiry Act has so far inquired into the matter.

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