Justice Balakrishnan Commission report on SC status for Dalit converts ready for submission

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File photo of former Chief Justice of India of Supreme Court K.G. Balakrishnan. | Photo Credit: The Hindu

The Justice (Retd.) K.G. Balakrishnan Commission examining the issue of Scheduled Caste status for Dalit converts has finished its study and prepared the report it was tasked with almost four years ago, The Hindu has learnt.

The three-member Commission of Inquiry was constituted by the Union government in October 2022, just as the Supreme Court was about to resume hearing a batch of pleas that sought SC status for Dalit Muslims and Christians. The issue has been pending in the top court for 20 years now.

The Commission’s mandate included examining whether SC status can be granted to Dalits who have converted to any faith other than those mentioned in the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order of 1950. Currently, only Dalits of Hindu, Buddhist, and Sikh faiths are entitled to an SC classification, unlike the Scheduled Tribe status, which does not have a religion criterion.

Nearly four years after the Commission was formed, officials aware of the matter said that the report has been prepared and is currently being readied in a “book format” for official submission. One official said that the Commission should be able to submit its report “in a few days”.

The Commission was initially given a two-year deadline to finish its work and submit a report to the government. Since 2024, the Commission has been given multiple extensions, the last one in April this year, which set the latest deadline at June 10, 2026. Gazette records do not show any further extension granted to the Commission.

Also read: Scheduled Caste government workers’ body opposes adding Dalit Christians or Muslims to Scheduled Caste list

According to the government, the Commission’s study was meant to look at the demand for SC status for Dalit converts, the opposition to this demand and its impact on existing SC communities, and the levels and types of discrimination faced by Dalit communities after they conver