VALIDITY OF SACHAR COMMITTEE CHALLENGED IN SC

Members of Sanatan Vedic Dharm, on Thursday, filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the validity of the Justice Rajinder Sachar committee report on the social, economic and educational status of the Muslim community and sought directions to prevent the government from relying on the Sachar Committee Report.

The petition has been filed through advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain stated that the notification dated 9 March 2005 issued from the office of Prime Minister Government of India nowhere mentions that same was being issued after any cabinet decision. Thus, it is clear that the then Prime Minister on his own whims issued the direction appointing the committee to enquire into the social, economic and educational status of the Muslim community whereas, by virtue of Articles 14 and 15, no religious community can be treated separately.

The power to appoint a commission to investigate into the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes vests with the President of India under Article 340 of the Constitution of India, the plea said.

The petitioner further stated that It is relevant to mention that the entire Muslim community has not been identified as a socially and educationally backward class and therefore, Muslims as a religious community cannot be treated as a special class entitled to benefits available to backward classes. The appointment of the Sachar Committee was made in violation of Article 77 of the Constitution of India and is unconstitutional and illegal, it added

The petitioner also said that the order appointing Sachar Committee was not issued in accordance with provisions contained in Article 77 of the Constitution of India. It is only the President of India who can appoint a commission in the exercise of the powers under Article 340 of the Constitution of India to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes and to make recommendations to improve their conditions, it said.

The Muslim community is not entitled to any special treatment for the simple reason that they were the rulers for a long number of years and even during British rule they enjoyed and shared the power, whereas SC/ST category and OBCs of Hindu community were suppressed, tortured, butchered, converted either by force or by allurement and had to face atrocities in the pre-independent era, the plea said.

In case the Prime Minister of India was interested to initiate any scheme for the betterment of socially and educationally backward classes he should have introduced beneficial schemes for the betterment of SCs/STs. Term of reference would show that the intention of the then Prime Minister was to bring beneficial scheme for the Muslim community in the garb of the report of Sachar Committee, it added.

The Constituent Assembly has rejected the move to give reservation to any community on a religious basis, as admittedly the principle of secularism, was adopted by the Assembly with cheers where there is no room for showing any favour or dis-favour to any religion, religious denomination or community. It is well established that a thing which cannot be done directly cannot be achieved indirectly, the plea said.