Centre justifies no SC tag for Dalit Muslims, Christians in top court

CURRENTLY, THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO RESERVATIONS IS EXTENDED ONLY TO PEOPLE FROM HINDU, SIKH OR BUDDHIST FAITHS

NEW DELHI: The Union government on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that Scheduled Caste (SC) status has not been granted to groups that claim to have been Dalits in the past but converted to Islam or Christianity because social stigma such as untouchability is not prevalent in these two religions.

Currently, the constitutional right to reservations in jobs and education as a member of the SC community is extended only to people from Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist faiths, in accordance with the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950.

Seeking to repel the legal challenge to the 1950 order laid by a batch of petitions that want the umbrella of reservation be extended also to Dalit people who have converted to Christianity or Islam, the Centre said: “The Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order, 1950 was based on historical data which clearly established that no such backwardness or oppression was ever faced by members of Christian or Islamic Society. In fact, one of the reasons for which people from Scheduled Castes have been converting to religions like Islam or Christianity is so that they can come out of the oppressive system of untouchability which is not prevalent at all in Christianity or Islam.”

It added that there is also no documented research and precise authenticated information available to establish that the disabilities and handicaps suffered by Scheduled Caste members in the social order of its origin (Hinduism) persists with their oppressive severity in the environment.

It further justified extending the reservation benefits to Buddhists while denying it to Muslims and Christians, arguing that not only the nature of conversions is different but the original caste of those converting to Buddhism can also be ascertained.