PIL on minorities issue: Last chance given to Centre to reply

One-liner: The Supreme Court on Friday granted the last opportunity to the Centre to file its reply on a PIL seeking directions for framing of guidelines identifying minorities at the state level.

Crux of the matter: It said Hindus are in a minority in 10 states and are not able to avail of the benefits of schemes meant for them.

Bench direction: A bench asked the Centre to file its response within four weeks after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta sought more time.

• A senior advocate, appearing for the petitioner, sought transfer to the Supreme Court of the petitions on similar issue which are pending in various high courts

SC allows plea: The SC allowed the plea seeking transfer of cases from several high courts to it against the Centre's notification to declare five communities-Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis- as minorities,

• Petitioner-advocate sought a fixed date of hearing from the bench but the top court posted the matter after seven weeks

Background: The SC in TMA Pai Foundation case held that the state is well within its rights to introduce a regulatory regime to provide minority educational institutions with qualified teachers in order to achieve excellence in education.

Source: PTI