Religious and linguistic minorities determination should be at the state level

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court said that the religious and linguistic minorities should be determined at the state level. The court also said that minority rights cannot be granted to the majority section of a state just because it is a minority at the national level.

The bench comprising Justices U U Lalith, Raveendra Bhatt and Sudhanshu Dulia made an important remark in a plea filed by UP native Devakinandan Thakur seeking minority status to Hindus.

The petition pointed out that Hindus are a minority in the states of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland and Punjab and in the union territories of Lakshadweep, Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir. The court directed the petitioner to submit clear figures of this. Granting minority status to Hindus in some states cannot be considered, declared the court.