(Per : HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MR. K.S.RADHAKRISHNAN)

Petitioner has come up with this public interest litigation challenging the steps taken by Union of India and the Planning Commission to utilize the national resources in favour of a particular minority community which according to the petitioner is discriminatory, arbitrary and violative of various constitutional provisions.

President of India, in his address to the Joint Sessions of Parliament on 25.02.2005, had announced that `the Government would recast the 15 Point Programme for planning, formulating and implementing specific interventions, policies and programmes for the welfare of the minorities which was reiterated by the Prime Minister, in his Independence Day address made in the year 2005. Consequently, the Government had revised its earlier programme and finalized 15 Point Programme for welfare of the minorities and ordered that the same would be implemented by the Central Governments/ Departments concerned, through State Governments/Union Territories. Programme envisaged location of a certain proportion of development projects in minority concentration areas and to provide wherever possible, upto 15 % of targets and outlays under various schemes be earmarked for minorities. Emphasis of the programme was also to maintain communal peace and harmony through appropriate measures and for ensuring reasonable representation of the minorities in Government including public sector.

Government, however, noticed, that there was lack of authentic information about the social, economic and educational status of the Muslims community in India which came in the way of planning, formulating and implementing specific interventions, policies and programmes and to address the issues relating to the socio-economic backwardness of that community. Government, therefore, decided to constitute a High Level Committee to prepare a comprehensive report on the socio, economic and educational status of the Muslim community in India. Notification dated 9th March, 2005 was issued by the Government appointing a Committee headed by Justice Rajinder Sachar. Terms of reference of the High Level Committee were as follows.

(a) Obtain relevant information from department/ agencies of the Central & State Governments and also conduct an intensive literature survey to identify published data, articles and research on relative social, economic and educational status of Muslims in India at the State, regional and district levels, to address, inter alia, the following questions:-

(i) In which States, Regions, Districts and Blocks do Muslims of India mostly live?

(ii) What is the geographical pattern of their economic activity, i.e. what do they mostly do for a living in various States, Regions and Districts?

(iii) What is their asset base & income levels relative to other groups across various States and Regions?

(iv) What is the level of their socio-economic development in terms of relevant indicators such as literacy rate, dropout rate, MMR, IMR etc? How does this compare with other communities in various States?

(v) What is their relative share in public & private sector employment? Does it vary across States and what is the pattern of such variation? Is the share in employment in proportion to their population in various States? If not, what are the hurdles?

(vi) What is the proportion of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) from the Muslim community in the total OBC population in various States? Are the Muslims OBCs listed in the comprehensive list of OBCs prepared by the National and State Backward Classes Commissions and adopted by the Central and State Governments for reservations for various purposes? What is the share of Muslim OBCs in the total public sector employment for OBCs in the Center and in various States in various years?

(vii) Does the Muslim community have adequate access to education & health services, municipal infrastructure, bank credit, & other services provided by Government/public