New Commission
The Union Government has decided not go by the report of the Ranganath Mishra Commission Report and has appointed a new Commission headed by Former CJI, Justice K.G. Balakrishnan to examine the issue.
A three-member Commission has been appointed in October, 2022 to examine the issue, whether Scheduled Caste status can be granted to Dalits who have converted to religions other than Sikhism and Buddhism.
Present position
At present, as per the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 only those who are Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist can be granted Scheduled Caste status.
Initially it was only for Hindus, however, later by way of an amendment in 1956 Sikhs were added and in 1990 Buddhists were included in the list.
Justice Ranganath Misra commission:
A 2007 report submitted by National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities, under the Chairpersonship of retired CJI Ranganath Misra had found merit for granting Scheduled Caste status to Dalit Christians.
PIL in Supreme Court
In 2020, the Supreme Court had issued notice in a PIL filed by an organization named National Council of Dalit Christians (NCDC) seeking a direction to grant Scheduled Castes (SC) status to Dalit Christians.
Case Title: Ghazi Saaduddin v. State of Maharashtra C.A. No. 329-330/2004
Petition prayers
Change of religion can't change the social status of a person.
Notions of caste hierarchy were present within Christianity.
Persons of SC origins were kept socially and economically backward.
Nearly 16 million Christians of SC-origin were suffering due to this.
The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order,1950 issued in exercise of Article 341 (1) of the Constitution of India to be unconstitutional.
"No person who professes a religion different from Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism shall be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste."
Restricting the SC status only to persons following Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism is violative of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution.
Dalit-origin persons following Sikhism and Buddhism were granted Scheduled Caste status only in 1956 and 1990 respectively, by amendments brought to the Presidential Order.
If backwardness in these religions can be recognized under the Presidential Order, omitting Christians from its coverage is arbitrary and discriminatory.
The non-inclusion of "Christians" in paragraph(3) of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, along with Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism, is discriminatory and violative of Articles 14,15,16 and 25 of the Constitution of India.
Majority of India has a casteist mindset regardless of religion.
Petition further sought to allow and extend the Scheduled Castes status to Christians of Scheduled Castes Origin for availing the Indian constitutional provisions under Articles 16, 46, 330, 332, 335, 338,341,366-24 and for availing the legal remedy/ protection under Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention) of Atrocities Act,1989.
**
No comments:
Post a Comment