Indian Court Says Scholarship Program Creates Religious Discrimination

In the Indian state of Gujarat on Monday, a 2-judge bench of the high court upheld the state government's refusal to implement a central government program that awards scholarships to children of 5 minority groups.  According to the Times of India, the court ruled that the program violates Article 15(1) of the Indian Constitution by favoring students of one religious group over another. The Constitution bars the State from discriminating against any citizen on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth. The central government says the program is not discriminatory, but is designed to help backward groups and has been implemented in other states. However, rather than implementing its judgment, the court referred the case to a larger bench since an opposite view was taken by another division bench in 2009.