SC seeks response from Centre to treat Muslim dalits as SCs

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today sought a response from the Centre on a petition seeking to treat Muslim Arzals or Muslim dalits as scheduled castes like their Hindu counterparts.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan issued the notice to the Centre on the PIL filed by an NGO contending that Muslim dalits like the khatiks, who are engaged in the profession of slaughtering goats like Hindu Khatiks, have not been given scheduled caste status.

Originally, both sets of khatiks were the same community and there are documentary proof to the effect that the Muslim Khatiks are local converts but they are not guaranteed SC status like their Hindu counterparts, the PIL filed by Akhil Maharashtra Muslim Khatik Samaj said.

Senior advocate Mohd Fakruddin and Neeraj Kumar submitted that the Samaj was seeking parity-based constitutional relief for Muslim counterparts of the Hindu SCs on the ground that the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 is unconstitutional as it is religion-based.

They said that the Justice Rejender Sachar Committee and the National Commisision for the Religious and Linguistic Minorities headed by former Chief Justice Rangnath Mishra have recommended delinking religion from the issue of Scheduled Castes.

Further there was a report that the National Commission for Schedules Castes has also favoured delinking religion on the issue.

The PIL said there was a need to identify and include Muslim Arzals or Muslim dalits like khatiks, mehters, bhangis, lalbegis, halakhors, mochis, mukris and garudis in the category of SCs