New Delhi, Aug. 23: The ghar wapsi (homecoming) programme of some Sangh parivar outfits has added a new dimension to reservation benefits for Dalits who undergo religious conversions.

Under an existing constitutional order and subsequent amendments, Dalits who have converted to religions other than Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism are not eligible for reservation benefits in jobs and education.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court agreed to examine a petition challenging the denial of reservation benefits to those who convert to religions other than the three specifically mentioned.

The demand has been pending for long. In 2004, the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), a non-government organisation, had filed a similar petition.

But a contemporary element has been injected into the debate because of the ghar wapsi campaign.

The All India Catholic Union and John Dayal, a social activist, have filed a fresh joint petition questioning the reservation benefits extended only to Dalit Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists. They have dubbed the reservation policy discriminatory and alleged that it was being exploited by certain fundamentalist groups to re-convert Dalits from other religions.

The petition filed through advocate P.I. Jose made a veiled attack on certain fundamentalist groups, saying the privilege was being used to re-convert Christian and other Dalits to Hinduism under the ghar wapsi programme.

"It is important to mention that on the one hand, poor Christians of Dalit origin are deprived of their constitutionally guaranteed freedom of faith and worship...."

The petition added: "...on the other hand, large groups of politically and institutionally patronised narrow fundamentalist religious bigots openly come out with violent intimidatory programmes like ghar wapsi... depriving the poor Christians of Scheduled Caste origin of their basic human rights of peaceful living (Article 21)."

The petition added that it appeared that efforts were afoot by these groups to "misuse the delay" in deciding on the petition filed by the CPIL in 2004 to execute their "narrow fundamentalist religious agenda".

The petition alleged that ghar wapsi and other similar programmes were "directly or indirectly connected to organisations openly patronised by the central government" although several judicial commissions had noted "their heinous intentions and modus operandi".

Yesterday, a bench of Chief Justice J.S. Khehar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud agreed to examine the petition and tagged the matter to be heard with the PIL filed in 2004.

In February 2015, a Supreme Court bench of Justices Madan B. Lokur and U.U. Lalit had referred to a larger bench the petition filed by the CPIL, challenging the constitutional validity of Paragraph 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order, 1950, and the amendments. However, the larger bench has not yet been constituted.

Paragraph 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Caste) Order, 1950, after an amendment in 1990, says that people belonging to Scheduled Castes who practise religions other than Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism are deemed not to be Scheduled Castes for the purpose of reservation benefits.

The latest petition alleged that such "discrimination" was a violation of fundamental rights under Articles 14 (equality), 15 (prohibition against discrimination), 16 (equality of opportunities in public employment, etc) and 25 (right to practise one's religion).