JUDGMENT :

SHAJI P. CHALY, J.

1. This is a Public Interest Litigation filed by an Advocate who is also claiming to be a public spirited person acting for the common cause of the society, particularly related to minorities in the State of Kerala. Petitioner is a member of Roman Catholic community, which is one of the minority communities. The grievance highlighted by the petitioner is that while most of the socio, economic and educational empowerment schemes and programmes of the Central Government are meant for the socio economically poor and downtrodden sections of the society including the six centrally notified minorities, while implementing various schemes in the State of Kerala there is marked discrimination favouring one minority against other minority communities without any rationale.

2. According to the petitioner, in order to translate the intention of the framers of the constitution and to safeguard the minority communities and to protect them from discrimination and deprivation of their rights, the Union Government had set up the National Commission for Minorities unde