Won’t accept Ranganath Panel report on SC quota for converted dalits: Govt to SC

The central government Wednesday told the Supreme Court that it is not accepting the 2007 report of Justice Ranganath Misra Commission on ‘religious and linguistic minorities’.

The commission had in the report recommended that Dalits who converted to Islam and Christianity to escape caste oppression in Hinduism should be permitted to avail Scheduled Caste (SC) reservation benefits in government jobs and educational institutions.

The Centre told the apex court that the report was flawed and composed within the four walls of a room.


“It was written within the four walls of a room. There was no field study done… The commission (Misra) took a myopic view of the social milieu in India. The findings of the Ranganath Misra Commission have not been accepted by the government,” the Centre submitted.

Appearing on behalf of the Centre, solicitor general Tushar Mehta submitted before a three-judge bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul that a new commission has been constituted.

The commission is chaired by former Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan. The commission was recently constituted under the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952 to re-examine the question whether ‘SC’ status ought to be granted to “new persons” who had converted to religions other than Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism.

The solicitor general informed the top court that the Centre may wait till the Justice Balakrishnan Commission came up with its recommendations. The time given to the commission is two years.

The bench said it would examine the question whether the court should wait for the Balakrishnan Commission report or go ahead and hear a series of petitions seeking ‘SC’ quota benefits for Dalit converts to other religions, primarily Christianity.

The matter will come up for resumed hearing in January.