Prabhakar Kumar Mishra, New Delhi: The decision to grant Scheduled Caste status to Dalits who profess Islam and Christianity has been deferred for at least two years. In this regard, the Central Government has constituted a three-member commission under the chairmanship of former Chief Justice of Supreme Court Justice KG Balakrishnan. Retired bureaucrat Ravindra Jain and UGC member Sushma Yadav will be the other two members of the commission. The commission will tell in its report in two years whether Dalits who have adopted Islam and Christianity can be given Scheduled Caste status or not and if given, what will be the impact on existing Dalits?

According to the current system, only Dalits who follow Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism have the status of Scheduled Castes. A petition was filed in the Supreme Court demanding Scheduled Caste status for Dalits who adopted Islam and Christianity. The Supreme Court had asked the central government to clarify its stand on the matter. Before the next hearing on October 11, the Central Government has constituted this commission.

A petition by the Center for Public Interest Litigation seeking Scheduled Caste status to Dalits who profess Islam and Christianity is pending in the Supreme Court since 2004. The Supreme Court had issued a notice to the central government but for 18 years the government had not clarified its stand on the matter. After Justice Lalit became the Chief Justice, the matter was once again listed for hearing on August 30, when Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Justice AS Oka and Justice Vikram Nath asked the government to clarify its stand in three weeks.

When the Supreme Court will hear on the 11th, the central government will inform the court that the commission has been constituted. The commission has been given 2 years. And after the Central Government is satisfied with this answer, the hearing will be postponed for the next two years.