Hindu minority plea: SC snubs govt for ambiguity

The Supreme Court on Tuesday snubbed the Centre for not taking a clear stand on a plea by BJP leader and advocate Ashwini Upadhyay to consider Hindus as a minority in certain states.

The Minority Affairs Ministry has told the court that the power to notify the minorities is vested with the Centre and any decision is taken only after discussions with the state governments and other stake holders.

In an affidavit it said: "The question involved in the writ petition has far-reaching ramifications throughout the country and so any stand taken without detailed deliberations with the stakeholders may result in unintended complications." The affidavit

was filed on a plea seeking directions for framing of guidelines for identification of minorities at the state level, contending that Hindus are in minority in 10 states.

The Ministry of Minority Affairs has taken a different stand than one taken in March that certain states, where Hindus or other communities are less in number, can declare them a minority community within their own territories, to enable them to set up and administer their own institutions.

A Bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and MM Sundresh deprecated that the

Centre is ambiguous on what it wants to do. "Solution cannot be complex. If you want to consult, then consult (state governments)," Justice Kaul told the counsel representing the Centre. The counsel sought pass-over of the matter since Solicitor General Tushar Mehta was busy with some other matter.

Senior advocate CS Vaidyanathan, representing the petition, said the Centre's new affidavit is in supersession of its earlier affidavit to hold wider consultations with the states.

Meanwhile, Supreme Court directed the Centre to hold consultations with the states on the issue within three months.