Supreme Court/PTI
The National Commission for Minority (NCM) has been directed by the Supreme Court to take a decision within three months on a representation seeking laying down of guidelines for defining the term 'minority' in the context of state-wise population of a community.
The apex court bench, which was headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, asked BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay to re-file his representation to the minority panel which, in turn, will take a decision on it within three months from Monday.
The term minority needed to be redefined and reconsidered in the context of population of a community in a state, instead of nationwide population data, Upadhyay has stated in his plea.
The plea said that Hindus, who are a majority community as per national data, are a minority in several north-eastern states and in Jammu and Kashmir.
However, the Hindu community is deprived of benefits which are available to the minority communities in these states, the plea said adding the minority panel should reconsider the definition of minority in this context.
(With PTI inputs)
