State Minority Commission Cannot Call For Records From Minority Institutions To Verify Adoption Of Reservation Policy: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court has held that the State Minority Commission does not have any locus standi to call for records from a minority educational institution to verify its adoption of the reservation rule. “The State Minority Commission, which is empowered to function to safeguard the rights and privileges of the minority institutions do not have any locus standi to call for the records from the minority educational institutions to verify the adoption of Rule for Reservation of seats in Minority Educational Institutions, which is clearly excluded under Article 15 of the Constitution of India, in violation to the functions enumerated under Section 8 of the Tamil Nadu State Minorities Commission Act, 2010,” the court observed. The court was hearing four petitions filed by different minority institutions challenging the proceedings issued by the Member Secretary of the State Minority Commissioner calling upon the colleges to depute officials along with an authorisation letter from the Principal and details of the admission in the past 3 academic years. The court thus observed that the commission had violated the functions enumerated under the Tamil Nadu State Minorities Commission Act, 2010.