Holding that minority status accorded to an educational institution is perpetual and is not for a limited period, the Madras High Court has quashed an order issued by the state government cancelling the minority status of a Chennai college for exceeding 50% cap in admitting minority students, stated a report in The New Indian Express.
"Minority status is not a tenure status," the first bench of Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice PD Audikesavalu said. The bench noted that the government denied extension of religious (Muslim) minority status of the college on the ‘sole ground’ that the college had admitted more than 50% Muslim students during academic years 2016-17, 2018-19, and 2019-20.
"While calculating the number of minority students, those minority candidates admitted on merit beyond the 50% cap has to be excluded because they are admitted on their own merit and not in the privilege as members of minority community," the bench said.
The order was passed on petitions filed by Justice Basheer Ahmed Sayeed College for Women challenging a single judge's order and the Tamil Nadu government's November 20, 2021, GO rejecting extension of the institute’s minority status. Saying that ‘social reservation’ need not be maintained by institutions that are administered and managed by minorities, the court said the state government would be within its right to impose a cap of 50% for admission of minority students.
"In the remaining 50% seats, filled on merit from General category, students of the minority community can be admitted on merit," it said. Underscoring the fact that the power to cancel the minority status of an educational institution vests only with the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions, the bench said admitting more than 50% students from a minority community would not lead to the cancellation of such status.
Besides quashing the GO, the court said if the college complies with all other requirements, it shall be permitted to function as minority institution unless the commission cancels the status. Senior counsel Vijay Narayan appeared for the petitioner while Advocate General (AG) R Shunmugasundaram represented the state. The petitioner had also sought direction to the government to issue it a permanent religious status.
