Advocate General R Shunmugasundaram made the submission before Justice C Saravanan. “According to Section 10 of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, people who are practising Hinduism only could be appointed for the postings including the Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner, Joint Commissioner and other officers,” the AG said.

The matter pertains to a petition moved by A Suhail, who challenged the recent job notification by HR&CE Commissioner stating a condition that only Hindu candidates were eligible for filling up teaching and non-teaching positions in HR&CE’s Arulmigu Kapaleeswarar Arts and Science College at Kolathur, Chennai.

The petitioner added that he had applied for the office assistant position in the college but his application was rejected as he is a Muslim by faith. Suhail’s counsel S Doraisamy submitted that Article 16 of the Constitution guarantees equality of opportunity in public employment without any discrimination on the ground of religion.

“Article 16 (5) of the Indian Constitution permits the appointment of people professing faith in a particular religion only to offices connected to the affairs of a religious institution,” the petitioner contended.

To substantiate his contentions, the petitioner explained that Article 16 (5) meant that a Muslim cannot be appointed as a priest in a temple and a Hindu cannot be posted as a Moulvi. But there was no necessity to consider a candidate’s religious faith to fill up the teaching and non-teaching positions in Kapaleeswarar Arts and Science College, he argued.

“The notification issued on October 13, 2020, for filling up various positions including assistant professor, physical director, librarian, assistant, junior assistant, office assistant, watchman, cleaner, and sweeper should be quashed,” the petitioner pleaded before the court.

Responding to the submission, the AG stated that the Kapaleeswarar Arts and Science College was fully funded by Arulmigu Kapaleeswarar temple and the rules do not allow people not professing Hinduism to work in the institution. The AG further stated that the interview for the concerned position was completed by the institution.

The petitioner then said that he had applied for the position on October 15 but he was not in a position to approach the court at that time as the High Court was on Dussehra vacation.

After recording the submissions, Justice C Saravanan posted the matter for two weeks, as it required detailed deliberations. The judge asked the respondents, the Tamil Nadu government and the HR&CE Department, to file a detailed counter on this.