Considering the plea of senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, the Supreme Court, had agreed to examine whether Sikhs were a "minority group in homeland Punjab", saying it had far reaching importance and consequences.
A constitution bench of Chief Justice TS Thakur and justices FMI Kalifulla, AK Sikri, S A Bobde and R Banumathi initially countered the plea, asking, “Can Muslims be treated as minority in Jammu and Kashmir?”
“For that matter, can Christians, who are the majority in the states of Nagaland and Meghalaya, be also treated as a minority community in these two northeastern states? Sikhs may be a minority in other states, but can they be treated as a minority group in Punjab?”
Reacting to the counters, Dwiwedi said that, the numerical strength of a community within a state should be the criteria and not whether they were dominated by other communities.
“A minority community may be affluent and not dominated in a state. This does not mean they can be denied the right to protect and further their cultural and educational rights as a minority group guaranteed under the Constitution,” he said.
Dwivedi opined that, Sikhs were those, who owed allegiance to Guru Granth Sahib and were enlisted as voters with Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee.
“The sub-sects and followers of Dera Sacha Sauda, Radha Soami and similarly placed persons are not considered Sikhs even though they were born to Sikh parents," he said.
The bench considered former solicitor general T R Andhyarujina as amicus curiae in this issue. Agreeing with the court’s decision, senior advocate KK Venugopal said, “In Kerala, Christians are in minority, but own majority of the educational institutions. If Christian-owned educational institutions turn into minority educational institutions, then it will have a telling effect.”
The court issued a notice to the ministry of minority affairs and sought its response within four weeks and also requested attorney general Mukul Rohatgi and senior advocate Andhyarujina to assist the bench, regarding the issue.
By Phani Ch
