The Supreme Court on Friday to February 24 the final hearing on petitions seeking to examine the validity of Paragraph 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, which deprives Scheduled Castes of reservation benefits on their conversion to Christianity.
As important questions of law were involved, a Bench of Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia and Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar issued notice to the National Commission for Minorities and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes seeking their response to the main petition filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, challenging the 1950 presidential Order.
The petitioner said the Order as it stood today violated the right to equality guaranteed under Article 14, as SCs converting to Christianity were deprived of the benefit given to people from the same community belonging to other religions. There could not be any distinction between SC converts to Sikhism and Buddhism and SC converts to Christianity.
Questions of law
The Bench, after hearing counsel Prashant Bhushan, framed three questions for consideration: Is Paragraph (3) of the Order, issued in exercise of Article 341(1), which says that “Notwithstanding anything contained in paragraph 2, no person who professes a religion different from Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism shall be deemed to be a member of a Scheduled Caste,” is unconstitutional and void, being violative of Articles 14, 15, 16 and 25? Can a Scheduled Caste professing a religion different from Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism be deprived of the benefit of Paragraph 3 of the Order, in violation of Articles 14, 15, 16 and 25? Is non-inclusion of “Christians” and “Muslims” in Paragraph (3) discriminatory and violative of Articles 14, 15, 16 and 25?
Senior advocate T.R. Andhyarujina has been appointed amicus curiae to assist the court.
