A appeal contesting the telangana and andhra pradesh governments' orders to extend the working hours of Muslim government employees by one hour during the month of Ramadan was denied by the supreme court on Friday. The petitioner, M Raghu, was advised to seek the appropriate High Courts by a bench consisting of Chief Justice of india Sanjiv Khanna and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar, who said that the top court would not consider the case.
Telangana and andhra pradesh have declared that Muslim workers might leave work one hour early during Ramadan.
The telangana government circular, which was released on february 15, states that from march 2 to march 31, all Muslim government workers, including teachers, contract and outsourced workers, and employees of statutory boards, companies, and public sector organizations, are permitted to leave work at 4 p.m.
On february 11, the andhra pradesh government issued a similar directive.
In support of the petitioner, Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan contended that "if this is allowed for one faith then it will soon become a race to the bottom."
According to the suit submitted by attorney Sanjana Saddy, the circular violates the basic right to equality protected by Article 14 of the indian Constitution by establishing an irrational grouping based only on religion.
"While the State possesses the authority to make reasonable classifications, such classifications must satisfy the twin tests of (i) intelligible differentia and (ii) rational nexus with a legitimate objective. The impugned circular fails to meet these requirements, as it arbitrarily confers a religiously motivated concession to a specific group without any rational nexus to administrative efficiency or public interest," the plea said.
Telangana and andhra pradesh have declared that Muslim workers might leave work one hour early during Ramadan.
The telangana government circular, which was released on february 15, states that from march 2 to march 31, all Muslim government workers, including teachers, contract and outsourced workers, and employees of statutory boards, companies, and public sector organizations, are permitted to leave work at 4 p.m.
On february 11, the andhra pradesh government issued a similar directive.
In support of the petitioner, Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan contended that "if this is allowed for one faith then it will soon become a race to the bottom."
According to the suit submitted by attorney Sanjana Saddy, the circular violates the basic right to equality protected by Article 14 of the indian Constitution by establishing an irrational grouping based only on religion.
"While the State possesses the authority to make reasonable classifications, such classifications must satisfy the twin tests of (i) intelligible differentia and (ii) rational nexus with a legitimate objective. The impugned circular fails to meet these requirements, as it arbitrarily confers a religiously motivated concession to a specific group without any rational nexus to administrative efficiency or public interest," the plea said.
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