Recently, the Supreme Court refused to hear a plea challenging the decision of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh to grant Muslim government employees a one-hour relaxation in working hours during the month of Ramzan.

A division bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar mentioned that the Supreme Court would not entertain the petition and advised the petitioner, M. Raghu, to approach the respective High Courts.

The government of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana permitted Muslim employees to leave work an hour early during Ramzan.

According to the Telangana govt’s circular issued on February 15, all Muslim government employees—including teachers, contract and outsourcing staff, as well as employees in statutory boards, corporations, and public sector undertakings—were allowed to leave office at 4 PM from March 2 to March 31.

The Andhra Pradesh government issued a similar order on February 11.

Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the petitioner, contended that allowing such a relaxation for one faith could set a precedent leading to a "race to the bottom."

The plea, filed through Advocate Sanjana Saddy, argued that the circular was ex facie unconstitutional, as it created an unreasonable classification based solely on religion, violating the fundamental right to equality under Article 14 of the Indian Constitution.

"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.