Supreme Court dismissed plea for minority benefits for Hindus in some states

Religion does not have borders and must be viewed in a pan-India context, the Supreme Court said this morning while dismissing a petition asking for grant of benefits to Hindu communities that are in the minority in some states. A three-member top court bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde said no guidelines could be passed in this case and reminded the petitioner - BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay - that it was up to the government, and not the courts, to declare a group or community as a minority.

The petition had challenged the validity of the centre's 26-year-old notification that listed five communities - Parsis, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and Buddhists as minorities.

"Languages may be restricted state-wise... but religions don't have state borders. We have to take a pan-India approach. In Lakshadweep Muslims follow the Hindu law," the three-member bench, which included Justices BR Gavai and Surya Kant, observed, adding, "We don't agree with you (the petitioner). What guidelines can we pass? Courts haven't declared anyone as minority... it is government which does it".

The Supreme Court had earlier consulted Attorney General KK Venugopal in this matter and was told Hindus are the minority population in eight states and Union Territories. These include Punjab, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur and the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Lakshadweep.

The court's observation on religion being understood in a pan-India context comes amid a growing wave of protests against the government's new citizenship law.

The opposition has repeatedly attacked the government over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA, and said it discriminates against other religious communities, including Muslims, and violates Article 14 of the Constitution - which guarantees equality before the law and equal treatment of the law to all regardless of their citizenship status.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who led the government's charge in parliament, told Rajya Sabha Muslims need not fear, "they are and will remain citizens of the country".

But the Congress's P Chidambaram, one of several opposition leaders who tore into the CAA in parliament, demanded to know on what basis the six religious groups were identified and others like Ahmadiyas, Hazaras and Rohingyas left out.

The CAA, which was passed by parliament and signed into law in the space of four days, seeks to make it easier for non-Muslim refugees from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh to apply for Indian citizenship.

Protests against the law have been nationwide and vociferous, with violence breaking out in the North East, Bengal and, on Sunday, resulted in a brutal crackdown on students of Delhi's Jamia Millia Islamia University, who had gathered for a peaceful protest march against the new law.