Centre defends in Supreme Court exclusion of Muslim and Christian Dalits from SC list

Supreme Court The Central government defended before Supreme Court on Wednesday exclusion of communities like Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians from the Scheduled Caste (SC) list. It said there was no data to show that these two groups faced any oppression in the past.

In an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment buttressed its argument and said that the two Dalit communities have not suffered from any unconstitutionality.

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NGO plea

The Centre’s affidavit came in response to a plea filed by the NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), which was seeking the extension of reservation and other significant benefits for people of the Dalit community who have converted to Islam or Christianity.

The ministry submitted that the identification of scheduled castes is based on a specific social stigma that is limited to the communities identified in the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950.

The Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order, 1950, "does not suffer from any unconstitutionality inasmuch as the exclusion of Christianity or Islam was due to the reason that the oppressive system of untouchability that leads to economic and social backwardness of some Hindu castes was not prevalent in Christian or Islamic societies", the affidavit said.

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Historical data

The Order "was based on historical data which clearly established that no such backwardness or oppression was ever faced by members of Christian or Islamic society", it said.

"In fact, one of the reasons for which people from scheduled castes have been converting to religions like Islam or Christianity is so that they can come out of the oppressive system of untouchability which is not prevalent at all in Christianity or Islam," the affidavit said.

Centre also justified extending the reservation benefits to Buddhists arguing that not only the nature of conversions is different but the original caste of those converting to Buddhism can also be ascertained.

“SCs embraced Buddhism voluntarily at the call of Dr Ambedkar in 1956 on account of some innate socio-political imperatives. The original castes/ community of such converts can clearly be determined. This cannot be said in respect of Christians and Muslims, who might have converted on account of other factors, since the process of such conversions has been taken place over the centuries,” said the affidavit.

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