Minority status notification requires State-wise assessment and independent government judgment; writ relief to notify Jains was refused.

Minority status under the National Commission for Minorities Act is not exhaustively defined, and the Central Government's power to notify a community is exercised on its own statutory judgment rather than on a binding Commission recommendation. The assessment of a religious minority claim must be made State-wise, having regard to social, cultural and religious conditions; numerical strength alone is not decisive. On the materials presented, a writ of mandamus directing notification of the Jain community was not justified, and no writ relief was granted.

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Issues: Whether the Central Government was bound to notify the Jain community as a minority under Section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992, and whether any writ relief could be granted directing such notification.

Analysis: The expression "minority" in the constitutional scheme is not exhaustively defined, and the Act only enables the Central Government to notify communities for the purposes of protection and monitoring. The Commission's recommendation is advisory and does not bind the Central Government, which must exercise its own statutory judgment. In light of the law declared on minority status being determined state-wise, the assessment of a religious minority claim has to be made with reference to the conditions prevailing in each State. Numerical strength alone is not decisive; the social, cultural, and religious circumstances of the community are relevant. The materials did not justify a mandamus in favour of the appellant, particularly where the claim was contested within the community itself.

Conclusion: The claim for a direction to notify Jains as a minority was rejected, and no writ relief was granted.

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