The Bombay High Court has stayed the Maharashtra government's decision to implement SC/ST/OBC reservation on open quota seats in minority colleges.
Mumbai: In a major setback to the Maharashtra government on Thursday, the Bombay High Court has stayed the decision to implement SC/ST/OBC reservation in minority trust-run colleges for admission to first year junior college (FYJC).
This interim relief was granted during the hearing of petitions filed by the Maharashtra Minority Educational Institutions Association and prominent minority colleges in Mumbai and Solapur — such as Jai Hind, KC, HR and St. Xavier’s College.
The High Court’s clear direction: Social reservation will not be applicable to minority institutions
A division bench of Justices Makarand S Karnik and Nitin R Borkar said, “The provision of social reservation in respect of admission to class 11 will not be applicable to any minority educational institution.” The court ordered the state government to ensure that the FYJC online admission portal is modified accordingly.
On Wednesday, the court had suggested the government to reconsider and withdraw the controversial decision, but the government counsel informed the court that they had not received any instructions from the concerned authorities.
Petitioners termed the decision arbitrary and unconstitutional
Senior advocate Milind Sathe and advocate S.C. Naidu, appearing for the petitioners, argued that the government’s decision was “arbitrary, imposed without lawful authority and without consultation”.
They cited Article 30(1) of the Constitution to say that minority institutions have the fundamental right to establish and administer their educational institutions, and they do not fall within the purview of social reservation under Article 15(5).
Government’s stand: Reservation is applicable only on the surrendered seats
The government advocate argued that this reservation applies only to the surrendered seats of the minority quota, which will not have any effect on the rights of minority institutions.
Controversy arose due to the implementation of reservation on open quota seats
As per the tradition of previous years, in minority institutions:
- 50% seats were open for the respective minority community,
- 5% for management quota,
- and 45% for students of all categories.
According to the government notification of the School Education Department issued on May 6, this time SC/ST/OBC reservation was also shown on these 45% open seats on the FYJC portal, which created confusion and controversy.
“Corrective” notifications issued but controversy persists
The state government first issued “corrective” notifications on June 2 and then on June 10, but the petitioners say that the original controversial sections remained the same in them.
The association in its petition also requested the court to direct the concerned authorities to immediately amend the FYJC admission portal so that there is clarity for admission in minority institutions.
Sought response from the government in four weeks, next hearing on August 6
The court has directed the state government to file a reply to the petitions within four weeks. The next hearing of the case has been scheduled for August 6.
Courtesy : Rajan Chaudhary, Hindi News