GO directing minority institutions to admit 50 per cent minority students quashed

Justice T Raja quashed the GO issued by the School Education Department dated April 5, 2018, framing additional guidelines for grant of minority status to educational institutions, after holding that the State cannot offer minority status to educational institutions and the powers regards this was only vested with the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions.

The judge in his order also noted that a complaint against the schools can be made to the Commission if they fail to admit eligible minority students.

The impugned GO had also fixed the upper limit of 75 per cent in respect of aided institutions and that they ought to file returns every September regarding the details of admission in order to retain their minority status. The order quashing the GO was passed on a plea moved by the Institute of Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, which contended that by stipulating a fictitious percentage of admission of minority students, the impugned GO seeks to deprive the Constitutional protection guaranteed to minority institutions. Also, noting that the GO stipulating a bulk admission from the same community is unreasonable, impractical and unworkable, the plea had submitted that the GO does not consider the fact that it will be impossible for microscopic minorities, like Christians, Buddhists and Sikhs to artificially boost the number of admissions from their own community, to the level of 50%. Moreover, the benefits accruing to the minority community by an educational institution cannot be quantified only by the number of admissions, the plea added.