The Hindu : Front Page : Muslims no more a minority in Uttar Pradesh: High Court

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Friday, Apr 06, 2007
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Muslims no more a minority in Uttar Pradesh: High Court

Twin criteria of population and strength applied

ALLAHABAD: The Allahabad High Court on Thursday ruled that Muslims in Uttar Pradesh could no longer be treated as a religious minority.

The landmark verdict was given by Justice S.N. Srivastava after applying the twin criteria — population and strength — of a religious minority and relying on the Census reports of 1951 and 2001. Muslims comprise about 18.5 per cent of the population in the State.

Shortly after the verdict, Advocate-General S.M.A. Kazmi said the State Government would challenge the judgment. The order comes two days ahead of the first phase of the Assembly elections in the State.

``The court finds that Muslims have ceased to be a religious minority community in the State of Uttar Pradesh on the consideration of the material on record, which include various Census reports including those of 1951 and 2001," Mr. Justice S.N. Srivastava said.

The court directed the State Government to treat members of the Muslim community on a par with the non-minority communities without discrimination in accordance with law.

The judgment was given on a writ petition filed by a madarasa in Ghazipur district, challenging the out of turn grant-in-aid to certain other minority institutions.

Timing of judgment

On the timing of the judgment, Mr. Justice Srivastava said he considered it appropriate to pronounce the operative part of the verdict on Thursday since he was scheduled to sit in the Lucknow Bench from April 9.

The detailed part of the verdict would be given later.

"Twin criteria"

The judge said he applied "the twin criteria, i.e., population and strength of a religious community as laid down by the founding fathers of the Constitution of India, as is clear from the proceedings of the Constituent Assembly, to determine any religious community as a religious minority."

He further said: "The U.P. Government should treat any member of Muslim community equal to other non-minority religious communities without discriminating in any respect in accordance with law being an integral part of citizenry of India."

The court also asked the State Government to treat all Muslim institutions applying for grant-in-aid on a par with non-minority institutions without any discrimination.

The judge issued notice to the Centre and the State Government to take appropriate steps to modify an October 23, 1993 notification issued by the Central Government on grant of minority status.

Allowing the writ petition challenging out-of-turn grant-in-aid to certain institutions, Mr. Justice Srivastava took note of the petitioners' allegations of corruption.

He directed the Chief Secretary to initiate an inquiry into the allegations and said it should cover all orders passed since 2003 recognising institutions for grant-in-aid.

"The inquiry will be conducted by an officer not below the rank of Principal Secretary and completed within three months of the presentation of a certified copy of this order," he said. — PTI

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