The Supreme Court on Thursday sought the response of the Central government on a petition filed by the Jamiat Ulema-I-Hind seeking to remove government control over the appointment of the chairperson and members of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions.
A three-judge bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao, Navin Sinha and Indu Malhotra has issued notice to the Centre on the petition which has also sought directions for appointment to the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions on the recommendations of the committee appointed by the Chief Justice of India till the Constitution of the National Tribunals Commission.
The petition has been filed by Jamiat Ulema-I-Hind through Advocate-On-Record Wajeeh Shafiq. The petitioner has alleged that the Chairman and the members have been appointed in arbitrary manner without inviting applications by issuing advertisements. The petitioner averred that out of three members, two members are from Sikh community, whereas, no person from Christian community or among Sunni Muslims was appointed as member of the Commission.
“The petitioner has sought to invoke the writ jurisdiction under Article 32, in order to protect the Judicial Independence by maintaining Judicial Dominance in the appointment of Chairperson and Members of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions, constituted under Section 3 of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions Act, 2004,”
stated the plea.
It said that the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions was constituted to safeguard the fundamental rights of the minorities enshrined under Article 30 of the Constitution. Since the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions has been set up under an Act of Parliament, it is not a department of Government rather its a full-fledged part of the Judicial System.
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It is further stated in the plea that for the aforesaid reason, it is expedient in the interest of maintenance of independence of the Judiciary that appointment of the Chairman and the members of the said Commission are done by the respondents for the committee to be constituted by the Chief Justice of India till the Constitution of the National Tribunals Commission, which was recommended by a Constitution bench of the Apex court in Rojer Mathew Vs South Indian Bank Ltd & Ors. .