The Centre has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court detailing the stand taken by various states and UTs on the contentious issue after holding consultative meetings with them and other stakeholders.

It said 24 states and six UTs had furnished their views while comments from governments of Rajasthan, Jharkhand, and Arunachal Pradesh and UTs of Jammu & Kashmir and Lakshadweep were still awaited.

The Punjab Government maintained that in India, different communities are in majority or in minority in different provinces/states depending on their Population. Therefore, it becomes necessary to protect the interests of the respective minority residing in the state in accordance with the Constitutional provisions.