Supreme Court Asks For Attorney General’s Opinion In Petition Seeking State-Wise Definition Of Minorities

A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi has sought the opinion of the Centre’s top legal officer, Attorney General K K Venugopal, over the question of whether minorities could officially be defined based on state-wise demographic data, reports Live Law.

The matter relates to a petition filed by BJP leader and advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, claiming that even though Hindus were a majority community nationwide, they were in fact a minority in seven states and one union territory. It has been argued that defining the term ‘minority’ as per nationwide data is illegal.

The petition also points out that communities such as Muslims in Jammu & Kashmir, Sikhs in Punjab and Christians in several North-East states, were enjoying minority status even though they were a majority in those states.

Provisions of the National Commission for Minorities Act 1992 are being challenged in this case for being ultra vires of the Constitution of India.