New Delhi : The Supreme Court yesterday said the issue of identification of minorities, including Hindus, at the state level needs a resolution and observed that taking different stands doesn’t help.
In supersession of its earlier stand, the Centre had on Monday told the apex court that the power to notify minorities is vested with the Union government and any decision in this regard will be taken after discussion with states and other stakeholders.

A bench of Justices S K Kaul and M M Sundresh on Tuesday said these are matters which require resolution and everything cannot be adjudicated.

What I am unable to understand is Union of India is not able to decide what to do. All this thought should have been given before. This creates uncertainty and all this comes into public domain before we put our eyes on it. This creates another problem,” the bench said.

As the hearing commenced, a junior counsel sought pass over saying that Solicitor General Tushar Mehta was busy in some other court.

Senior advocate C S Vaidyanathan, appearing for the petitioner, referred to the affidavit filed by the Centre.

The bench then observed, If the Centre wants to consult states, we will have to take a call. Solution can’t be that everything is so complex, we will do so. This cannot be answer from the Government of India. You decide what you want to do. If you want to consult them do it. Who is stopping you from doing so?

These are matters which require resolution. Taking different stands doesn’t help. If Consultation is required, it should have been done before the affidavit was filed. Let the Solicitor General come here, the bench said.

The matter will taken up again after some time. The apex court had earlier granted four weeks to the Centre to respond to a plea, which has sought directions for framing of guidelines for the identification of minorities at the state level, contending that Hindus are a minority in 10 states.

In an affidavit filed in response to a plea filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, the Ministry of Minority Affairs said the central government has notified six communities as minority under section 2C of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.

It is submitted that the question involved in the writ petition has far-reaching ramifications throughout the country and therefore any stand taken without detailed deliberations with the stakeholders may result in an unintended complication for the country.

Though the power is vested with the central government to notify minorities, the stand to be formulated by the central government with regard to issues raised in this group of petitions will be finalised after having a wide consultation with the state governments and other stakeholders, the Centre said.

The ministry said this will ensure that the central government is able to place a considered view before the apex court taking into consideration several social, logical, and other aspects obviating any unintended complications in the future concerning such a vital issue.

The Ministry of Minority Affairs had earlier told the apex court that state governments can declare any religious or linguistic community, including Hindus, a minority within the said state.

The ministry had also submitted that matters concerning whether followers of Hinduism, Judaism, and Bahaism can establish and administer educational institutions of their choice in the said states and those related to their identification as a minority within the state may be considered at the state level.

Upadhyay had challenged the validity of section 2(f) of the National Commission for Minority Education Institution Act, 2004, alleging that it gives unbridled power to the Centre and termed it “manifestly arbitrary, irrational, and offending”.

Section 2(f) of the Act empowers the Centre to identify and notify minority communities in India.
The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, said denial of benefits to “real” minorities and “arbitrary and unreasonable” disbursements under schemes meant for them to the absolute majority infringe upon their fundamental right.

“In the alternative, direct and declare that followers of Judaism, Bahaism, and Hinduism, who are minorities in Ladakh, Mizoram, Lakshadweep, Kashmir, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Manipur, can establish and administer educational institutions of their choice in the spirit of the TMA Pai Ruling,” the plea said.

The apex court in the TMA Pai Foundation case had held that the state is well within its rights to introduce a regulatory regime in the national interest to provide minority educational institutions with well-qualified teachers for them to achieve excellence in education.

Quoting Article 30 of the Constitution, the plea said that minorities whether based on religion or language shall have the right to establish or administer educational institutions of their choice.

The petition said that denial of minority rights to actual religious and linguistic minorities is a violation of the rights of minorities enshrined under Articles 14 and 21 (no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law) of the Constitution.

The apex court had earlier allowed a plea seeking transfer of cases from several high courts to it against the Centre’s notification to declare five communities – Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Parsis – as minorities and tagged the matter with the main petition.

Security forces uncovered a hideout in Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir and seized ammunition and explosives today.

Police launched a search operation on a tip-off in Sumber area, a police spokesman said.

During the searches, they recovered 179 rounds of ammunition, including 132 rounds of AK-47, 12 rounds of Chinese pistol, two magazines, one wireless set, and two UBGL grenades with one UBGL tube, they said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday expressed confidence that his party will form the next government in Gujarat, as he attacked the BJP-led central government for creating one India for the rich and one for the poor.

In the BJP model, which has created two Indias, one for the rich and one for the poor, resources of the country belonging to poor people are being given to a few rich people, he said.

Addressing a tribal rally, the Congress leader also said that the BJP-led government in the state had deprived tribals of their rights.

The BJP government will not give you anything, but take away everything from you. You (tribals) have to snatch your rights and then only you will get what is yours, he said.

Tribal people through their hard work build roads, bridges, buildings and infrastructure in Gujarat. But what did you get in return? You got nothing. Neither good education nor health service, he said.
Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gandhi said, PM Modi is doing in India what he did in Gujarat as chief minister: creating two Indias, one for the rich and another for common people.

Chandigarh: Hours after a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) hit the Punjab Police Intelligence wing headquarters in Mohali with police saying a ‘minor explosion’, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday in his first comment said ‘whoever tried to spoil the atmosphere would not be spared’.

“The police is investigating the blast in Mohali. Whoever tried to spoil the atmosphere of our Punjab will not be spared, ” Mann tweeted. A high alert has been declared across the state.

The grenade hit the Intelligence bureau headquarters in an upscale locality on Monday evening, shattering windowpanes on the third floor of the building.

“The RPG was fired from a distance by unidentified persons who are believed to have fled in a vehicle. A Swift car was spotted at the spot, ” a police officer told IANS, adding “before the attack a recce was carried out by two miscreants”.

A team of the National Security Guard (NSG) is expected to reach the spot later in the day.

The attack was aimed to harm high-level Organised Crime Control Unit (OCCU) officials who have offices in the Intelligence wing headquarters.

Responding to the attack, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kajriwal said the blast was a cowardly act of those who want to disturb the peace of Punjab.

“Aam Aadmi Party’s Punjab government will not allow those people’s wishes to be fulfilled. Peace will be maintained under all circumstances with the cooperation of all the people of Punjab and the culprits will be punished severely, ” Kejriwal said in a tweet on Tuesday.

“A minor explosion was reported at the Punjab Police Intelligence headquarters in S.A.S Nagar around 7.45 p.m. No damage has been reported. Forensic teams have been called, ” the police said in a statement.

Former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh in a tweet said, “Shocked to hear about the blast at the @PunjabPoliceInd Intelligence headquarter in Mohali. Thankfully nobody was hurt. This brazen attack on our police force is deeply concerning and I urge CM @BhagwantMann to ensure perpetrators are brought to justice at the earliest.”

Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Badal said he was deeply shocked at the blast, exposing serious security lapses and highlighting once again the deteriorating law and order situation in Punjab. “Thorough probe required to expose and punish those responsible, ” he added.

Protests erupted in Shaheen Bagh on Monday with hundreds of people, including women, opposing the SDMC’s anti-encroachment drive as bulldozers rolled into the area in the presence of heavy police personnel.

Following the protest, the SDMC officials, who were part of the anti-encroachment drive, returned with bulldozers without conducting the exercise, an official said.

Protesters raised slogans against the BJP-ruled South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) as well as the central government and demanded that the action should be stopped. Some women protestors also stood in front of bulldozers to prevent the exercise.

Earlier in the day, leaders from the Aam Aadmi Party and Congress also reached the spot and staged dharna.

The protest also caused heavy traffic snarls in Shaheen Bagh, Kalindi Kunj, Jaitpur, Sarita Vihar and Mathura Road among other areas.

SDMC’s Central Zone Chairman Rajpal Singh told PTI that the illegal structures could not be removed due to protests.

In December 2019, Shaheen Bagh was the centre of protests and sit-ins against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The sit-in was called off in March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic had struck the city.

Last month, an anti-encroachment drive conducted by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation in Jahangirpuri area, which witnessed violence between two communities on April 16, drew widespread criticism. The Supreme Court had to intervene to stop the action there.

Singh said that removing encroachment from any area is our obligatory function which the civic body is doing.

“Protests being held are politically-motivated. We will do whatever we have to remove encroachment. Our bulldozers and trucks are still there (in Shaheen Bagh),”.

Senior police officials were also present at the spot along with their personnel to provide security to SDMC officials to carry out the anti-encroachment drive in the area.

“Police personnel have been deployed at the spot where the anti-encroachment drive is being carried out. This is being done to ensure that the concerned civic bodies can carry out their work without any hassle and with all safety,” a senior police official said.

Paramilitary forces were also deployed to manage the situation, officials said. As South MCD officials with bulldozers reached Shaheen Bagh, some locals started removing their “illegal structures”.

Akbar, 40-year-old shopkeeper at Kalindi Kunj main road in Shaheen Bagh, said, “Bulldozers had come in the morning around 11:30 to this area, but they left as there were no such encroachments here. People were told and they removed their carts. There was nothing to be removed. Bulldozers left without doing anything.”

Delhi Congress leaders, including party’s media cell vice chairman Parvez Alam, were among those detained by the police.

Delhi BJP Chief Adesh Gupta criticised the Congress and AAP for “opposing anti encroachment drive” in Shaheen Bagh.

“Today it’s proved that AAP and its MLAs are supporting Rohingyas and Bangladeshis. Those who are lying before bulldozers will be given a reply by the people. It’s unfortunate that AAP and Congress are opposing removal of encroachment in Shaheen Bagh. I urge AAP and Congress not to link encroachment with religion,” he said.

The plan for the anti-encroachment drive comes after Gupta wrote to the mayors of South and East corporations on April 20 seeking “the removal of encroachments by Rohingyas, Bangladeshis and anti-social elements” in their areas.

Last month, a drive was planned in Okhla and Jasola but it could not be executed due to unavailability of police force, said SDMC’s Central Zone Chairman Singh.
On May 10, the anti-encroachment drive will be conducted near Gurudwara Road near New Friends Colony while on May 11, it will be conducted in Meharchand Market, Lodhi Colony near Sai Baba Mandir and near JLN Metro station, he said.