Today, Tuesday, April 16, the Delhi High Court (HC) upheld the Centre's decision to dissolve the Maulana Azad Education Foundation (MAEF). This foundation was set up in the year 1989 for education promotion among all educationally backward minorities. This was stated in a report by PTI.
The bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan, dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) by Syeda Saiyidain Hameed, John Dayal and Daya Singh against the dissolution. The bench said that the decision of the MAEF general body to that effect was "well considered" and the court was "not impressed" by the petitioners' objections.
"The decision to dissolve MAEF has been duly taken by the general body of the MAEF and this court finds no impropriety or irregularity in the process adopted by the general body in arriving at the said decision," the bench, also comprising Justice Mini Pushkarna, said while pronouncing the verdict.
"This court finds no merit in the petition and the same is accordingly dismissed," the court said.
Earlier this year, the petitioners approached the HC against the February 7 order of the Ministry of Minority Affairs. The orders instructed the MAEF to carry out the closure process at the earliest and submit a copy of the closure certificate issued by the Registrar of Societies of the Delhi government on completion of all procedures, as per extant laws.
In addition to this, the Centre had defended its decision in the court, saying MAEF has become "obsolete" when there is a dedicated ministry holistically executing schemes for the benefit of the minorities.
The ministry's order was issued regarding a proposal received from the Central Waqf Council (CWC) on January 21 to close the MAEF.
Furthermore, the court had reserved its verdict on the PIL on March 13 after hearing both sides.
The petitioners mentioned in their PIL that the ministry's order not only deprived the deserving students, especially girls, from availing the benefits of the schemes of the MAEF but is also without jurisdiction, completely mala fide, arbitrary and a colourable exercise by authorities.
The petition, filed through advocate Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi, claimed that such an "abrupt, opaque and completely arbitrary" decision to dismantle an almost four-decade-old institution and scavenge its assets and funds is bound to harm the lives of several students, schools and non-government organisations (NGOs).
