Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Don’t take tolerant Hindus for granted, SC tells Centre

Don’t take tolerant Hindus for granted, SC tells Centre

With only Hindu personal laws being codified to date, the Supreme Court on Tuesday doubted the “secular” commitment of the Centre for failing to codify other personal laws as well.

Drawing a possible link to explain, a Bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and AK Ganguly went to the extent of suggesting, “The Hindu community has been tolerant to these statutory interventions from time to time. But it has not happened for others.” The Bench added, “It appears to be lack of secular commitment (on part of the Centre) as it (codification) has not happened for others.”

The observations formed part of a PIL filed by National Commission of Women where the dichotomy between various Central legislations on the marriageable age of women is under review.