Merely because there are a few rich individuals in a minority community does not mean entire community is socially advanced: Kerala High Court

Few people belonging to minority communities being financially well off cannot be considered as an indicator that the entire community is socially and economically advanced, the Kerala High Court observed on Thursday while dismissing a plea to reassess the minority status of Muslims and Christians in the State of Kerala (Citizens Association for Democracy, Equality, Tranquility, and Secularism v. Union of India)..A Bench of Justices S Manikumar and Shaji P Chaly held that merely because there are rich individuals in a community, who are able to afford very luxurious living conditions, would not stand in the way of the National Commission for Minorities ascertaining the minority status of the communities as such."Merely because there are a few people who are rich in the minority communities, one cannot be expected to understand that their richness is due to them belonging to minority communities and further merely for that factor, it cannot be taken for granted that the entire members of the minority communities are economically and socially advanced," the Court said. The Court also ruled that the power to redetermine the minority status of communities under the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 and the Minority Educational Institutions Act, 2004 is not vested with the Central government. Instead, the Central Government is given power only to refer any matter to the National Commission for Minorities under the Act, 1992.The Court underscored the power of National Commission for Minorities to determine minority status of communities holding that Court cannot in any manner create any fetter for the independent functioning of the Commission by issuing any directions..The plea by Citizens Association for Democracy, Equality, Tranquility, and Secularism had claimed that the minority status of Muslims and Christians in Kerala needs to be redetermined since they are no longer socially or educationally backward.The petitioner alleged that the State Government has not mustered the courage to reassess the minority status due to fear of upsetting the status quo prompting the petitioner to approach the Court."Pampering of the Christian and Muslim communities in financial, occupational, professional, educational fields would be a serious jolt to the secular structure of constitutional democracy and the same may lead to multi-nationalism," the plea had said.It was the argument of the petitioner that even if absolute numbers are taken into account, in 2021, the two communities would still constitute over 50 percent of the population even though as per the Census of 2011, this is not the case.It was contended that in Kerala specifically, Muslims and Christians are not socially and educationally backward. Rather, over the years, they have passed Hindus in terms of education and socio-economic background and their status is to be re-determined.The petitioner had, therefore, prayed for a direction to the Centre and National Commission for Minorities to re-determine the minority status of Muslim and Christian communities by considering the State of Kerala as a separate unit.The Court,however, turned down the argument stating that presence of rich individuals in a community will not stand in the way of National Commission from ascertaining a community's minority status. "The status is given by the Commission taking into account various factual inputs that are available before the Commission for consideration and making due enquiries in accordance with the statutory requirements," the judgment said..The petitioner had also contended that the original inhabitants of India were termed as Hindus, and later with the advent of the Arabs and Christian Missionaries, several citizens of this country got converted to Islam and Christianity. It was also the case that the British regime, as part of their strategy to perpetuate their rule, divided the inhabitants as Hindus, Muslims and Christians etc. According to the petitioner, neither the Constitution nor any other enactments have defined the term 'minority'. But, the Government of India introduced an enactment by name National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 and even in the said Act, instead of defining minority, certain religious communities were included in the list of minorities.The Court, however, turned down this argument as well holding that the discussion of constitution makers in various provisions of the Constitution would make it clear that they had noble object of protecting and safeguarding the interest of the minorities, apart from making imperative, duties and obligations on the Central and State Governments to make legislations so as to safeguard the interests of the minority communities"We are of the view that merely because the term 'minority' is not defined under the Constitution of India, that would not take away the fundamental rights and guarantees conferred on the minorities under the Constitution of India and the laws which are fundamental in the governance of the nation," the Court said.Further, merely because in the definition or interpretation clause of the Constitution, the term 'minority' is not included and defined, that will not, in any way, create a fetter to the duties and obligations of the government of India to protect the interests of the minorities guaranteed under the Constitution of India, the Court added..In view of the above, the Court proceeded to dismiss the petition. .[Read Judgment]