The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought responses from the Centre and the J&K government on a PIL, which alleged that benefits for minorities were being siphoned off by majority Muslim population in the state.
A Bench issued notices to the Ministry of Minority Affairs of Jammu & Kashmir government, National Minority Commission and others, seeking their replies on the plea, which also sought the setting up of State Minority Commission for identification of minorities.
However, the court refused to restrain the authorities from disbursing benefits to any community in the state and asked the parties to respond to the issue within four weeks. The court was hearing a PIL by Jammu-based advocate Ankur Sharma, who alleged that the rights of religious and linguistic ‘minorities’ in the state were being “siphoned off illegally and arbitrarily” due to extension of benefits to unqualified sections of the population.
The plea sought directions to consider the extension of National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992, to J&K and make changes so that the benefits for minorities in other states could also be given to the minorities here.