A PIL filed by the Hindu Front for Justice and others against a programme initiated by the Samajwadi party for pension with reservation for a minority group was on February 19 thrown out by the Chief Justice of India JS Khehar.

The PIL said that the minority community should not be treated as socially and economically backward classes for the benefit of Yojana in Uttar Pradesh. The PIL was filed against a certain part of the Yojana, which gives reservation to minority groups.

The first comment by the CJI gave an indication of what was to come. He said: “It is such a beautiful policy.”

The petitioner submitted: “I have not challenged the Yojana, but a particular part of it, whether minority groups are eligible to get benefit of this yojana only on the ground that they belong to minority groups? Minority community as a class cannot be underprivileged.”

The order was a quick dismissal of the petition as no ground for interference was proven.

—India Legal Bureau