Minority quota admissions: No Reservation for sub-sects, says HC
Mahir Haneef | TNN | Nov 1, 2018, 11:16 IST
Representational Image KOCHI: Minority quota available to minority educational institutions cannot be subdivided on the basis of sects or other groups within the religion, the Kerala High Court has ruled.
The ruling was given by a division bench comprising of justices K Surendra Mohan and Shircy V after considering three petitions (WP-C No.s 22168, 22962, and 23707 of 2018) filed by managements of two minority educational institutions and students.
It was contended by the petitioners, which included managements of Karuna Medical College and Travancore Medical College, that the right of minority communities to establish and administer educational institutions as per Article 30 (1) of the Constitution includes the freedom of choice of candidates.
While refuting the argument, the bench said the term ‘minority’ means a community notified as such by the central government as per section 2(c) of National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. As per the government’s notification, Muslims have been classified as one of the minorities. No sub-sect or denomination within the said community finds a place in the notification, the court pointed out.
Right of unaided professional colleges to admit students of their choice is subject to selection of students based on merit through a transparent, fair and non-exploitative procedure as per the Supreme Court’s 2016 decision in Modern Dental College and Research Centre vs. State of Madhya Pradesh, the court said.
In the case of Karuna Medical College, 35 seats were earmarked for the trust conduct the college and its dependent trusts. The court said ‘dependents of the trust’ are not indicative of any definite class or category of persons. Any person could be brought within the umbrella of the said expression and allowing admissions on the said criteria would denude the admission process of transparency, the judgment said. Other categories mentioned in the seat matrix relate to even Muslim political organizations like Jamaat-e-Islami, which also cannot be permitted, the court added.
The court held in the judgment, “It is necessary to bear in mind that the right under Article 30(1) of the Constitution is available only to a minority community, which is a homogenous class. As per the Government of India notification, it is the community of Muslims that has been designated as the minority community. Though there may be various denominations or sub-sects within that community, no such denomination or sub-sect could claim a further protection that would extend even against members of the minority community itself. No such categorization or reservation is permissible in law, nor is any such reservation envisaged or recognized. The above being the position, the contention that the Colleges in these cases that they are entitled to reserve seats for the various categories indicated in their proposed seat matrix is rejected.”
Allowing reservation for sub-sects under minority quota would also affect inter se merit, the court said. If the right claimed by the college managements is conceded, it would permit them to admit less meritorious students belonging to the sub-sects in preference to even Muslim students of higher merit, the judgment said.
About 10,000 Muslim candidates figured in the NEET rank list for the current academic year, which is more than three times the total number of seats available, the court pointed out. Admission of candidates from this common source maintaining inter se merit would ensure that the selection is transparent, merit-based, and non-exploitative as stipulated by the apex court. Any permission to deviate from the said procedure will only lead to unethical practices and sacrificing of merit, the court said.
In the case of Karuna Medical College, 15 out of the 70 minority quota seats were reserved for Palakkad district Muslims, 5 for All India Muslims, 5 for NRI open merit quota, and 10 for NRI Muslim community. The rest of the seats were reserved for dependents of various trusts affiliated with the college.
While the government had asked Travancore Medical College to allot 60 seats under minority quota to Muslim community, the college had sought for 10 seats to Sunni Muslims, 20 for Muslim Shafi Madhab, 10 for Hanafi Madhab, 10 for Mujahid jamaaths, and 10 for Jamaath-e-Islami.
The ruling was given by a division bench comprising of justices K Surendra Mohan and Shircy V after considering three petitions (WP-C No.s 22168, 22962, and 23707 of 2018) filed by managements of two minority educational institutions and students.
It was contended by the petitioners, which included managements of Karuna Medical College and Travancore Medical College, that the right of minority communities to establish and administer educational institutions as per Article 30 (1) of the Constitution includes the freedom of choice of candidates.
While refuting the argument, the bench said the term ‘minority’ means a community notified as such by the central government as per section 2(c) of National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. As per the government’s notification, Muslims have been classified as one of the minorities. No sub-sect or denomination within the said community finds a place in the notification, the court pointed out.
Right of unaided professional colleges to admit students of their choice is subject to selection of students based on merit through a transparent, fair and non-exploitative procedure as per the Supreme Court’s 2016 decision in Modern Dental College and Research Centre vs. State of Madhya Pradesh, the court said.
In the case of Karuna Medical College, 35 seats were earmarked for the trust conduct the college and its dependent trusts. The court said ‘dependents of the trust’ are not indicative of any definite class or category of persons. Any person could be brought within the umbrella of the said expression and allowing admissions on the said criteria would denude the admission process of transparency, the judgment said. Other categories mentioned in the seat matrix relate to even Muslim political organizations like Jamaat-e-Islami, which also cannot be permitted, the court added.
The court held in the judgment, “It is necessary to bear in mind that the right under Article 30(1) of the Constitution is available only to a minority community, which is a homogenous class. As per the Government of India notification, it is the community of Muslims that has been designated as the minority community. Though there may be various denominations or sub-sects within that community, no such denomination or sub-sect could claim a further protection that would extend even against members of the minority community itself. No such categorization or reservation is permissible in law, nor is any such reservation envisaged or recognized. The above being the position, the contention that the Colleges in these cases that they are entitled to reserve seats for the various categories indicated in their proposed seat matrix is rejected.”
Allowing reservation for sub-sects under minority quota would also affect inter se merit, the court said. If the right claimed by the college managements is conceded, it would permit them to admit less meritorious students belonging to the sub-sects in preference to even Muslim students of higher merit, the judgment said.
About 10,000 Muslim candidates figured in the NEET rank list for the current academic year, which is more than three times the total number of seats available, the court pointed out. Admission of candidates from this common source maintaining inter se merit would ensure that the selection is transparent, merit-based, and non-exploitative as stipulated by the apex court. Any permission to deviate from the said procedure will only lead to unethical practices and sacrificing of merit, the court said.
In the case of Karuna Medical College, 15 out of the 70 minority quota seats were reserved for Palakkad district Muslims, 5 for All India Muslims, 5 for NRI open merit quota, and 10 for NRI Muslim community. The rest of the seats were reserved for dependents of various trusts affiliated with the college.
While the government had asked Travancore Medical College to allot 60 seats under minority quota to Muslim community, the college had sought for 10 seats to Sunni Muslims, 20 for Muslim Shafi Madhab, 10 for Hanafi Madhab, 10 for Mujahid jamaaths, and 10 for Jamaath-e-Islami.
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