New Delhi, April 11
The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Centre on a petition seeking the extension of reservation benefit to Dalit Christians, asking it to submit an affidavit on the issue.
A Bench of Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti and Mr Justice G.P. Mathur, issued the notice on a petition alleging that the Dalits on conversion to Christianity were being denied the benefit of reservation available to the SC and ST people.
The petition filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) stated that this provision was discriminatory towards the Dalit Christians, while any person from the SC and ST community if converted to the Sikhism and the Buddhism were entitled to the reservation benefit.
Though the petition was filed in October last year, the court at that time had only sought views of the Attorney General who had stated that it was a policy matter and left to the government to decide.
But today, he said that a formal notice had to go to the government on the petition to seek its reply.
