Supreme Court adjourns hearing of Dalit Christian issue till February 2006

New Delhi – The 16–million Dalit Christians of India suffered a staggering blow when India’s apex court, the Supreme Court of India rescheduled the hearing of their case for equal rights till February next year.

On November 28, a bench comprising Chief Justice Y K Sabharwal, Mr Justice C K Thakker and Mr Justice R V Raveendran posted the matter to February for hearing arguments on the writ challenging the validity of the provision denying reservation to dalit Christians.

The apex court took this decision after the Indian government, represented by Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramanian, submitted before the bench that the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities, which has been entrusted with giving recommendations on extending the benefit of reservation to people from the scheduled caste embracing Christianity, had already visited seven states to conduct research and ascertain the views of state governments.

During the hearing of a petition challenging the constitutional validity of para 3 of the Constitution (SCs) Order 1950, ASG Gopal Subramanian submitted that the Commission had been asked to give its recommendations on issues raised in the petition, in the context of a ceiling of 50 per cent on reservation and also, if positively recommended, the modalities for the inclusion of such converts in the list of SCs.

He said the Commission, which was interacting with NGOs, communities concerned and state governments, was conducting research to find whether SCs suffered the same disabilities even after conversion.

Earlier, Advocate Prashant Bhusan, arguing for the petitioners, contended that the position of dalit converts remained the same in the society. He said that the denial of reservation to dalit Christians was discriminatory and violative of the Constitution.
He further said the role of the Commission would come only after the court held the provision unconstitutional and hence the matter should not be adjourned till the recommendations, likely to come by the end of April next year.