Justice Balakrishnan Commission starts work on SC tag for Dalit converts

By A Staff Reporter

The former Chief Justice of India, KG Balakrishnan, heading the inquiry commission into Dalit converts to religion other than Sikhism and Buddhism should get Scheduled Caste status mentioned that they have just started work.

Speaking to ANM News over phone from Delhi, the former CJI mentioned that they expect to take about an year and half to complete and file a report to the Centre.  Currently, the constitutional right to reservations in jobs and education as a member of the SC community is extended only to people from Hindu, Sikh or Buddhist faiths, in accordance with the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950.

Seeking to repel the legal challenge to the 1950 order laid by a batch of petitions that want the umbrella of reservation be extended also to Dalit people who have converted to Christianity or Islam, the Centre said that identification of SC is centered around a specific social stigma and the connected backwardness which is limited to the communities recognised under the 1950 Order. There are a series of petitions seeking Scheduled Caste status for Dalit converts to Christianity. These petitions have been pending in the apex court for 19 years. The government has asked the Supreme Court to stall till the Justice Balakrishnan Commission report is out.