Bengaluru: Additional Solicitor General Prabhulinga K Navadagi has informed the High Court that the recommendation of the state government pertaining to religious minority status for the Lingayats has been handed over to the Union Home Ministry.
The Divisional Judicial Bench including Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice B M Shyam Prasad heard four public interest litigations (PILs) questioning the order of the State Minority Commission to form an expert committee on the issue of separate religious status for the Lingayat community.
For the central government, advocate Navadagi submitted a written memo to the judicial bench. “The Government of Karnataka submitted a recommendation and related documents requesting to declare Lingayat as a separate community to the Department of Minority Affairs. However, they sent it back to the Home Ministry as it comes under the Department of Home Affairs,” he explained.
“For the review and analysis of the recommendation, it requires enough time. So we require more time,” he requested. The Bench agreed with the claim and adjourned the hearing to June 19.
