Madras HC quashes Tamil Nadu govt order forcing minority institutions to admit 50% students from community, says state has no such power

Chennai: The Madras High Court Wednesday quashed a government order mandating minority educational institutions to admit not less than 50 percent of students belonging to the community every year to retain their minority status. [caption id=“attachment_2595252” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Madras High Court. News 18[/caption] The state government does not have the power to pass such order in connection with minority status of educational institutions under the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions Act, Justice T Raja held. He was allowing a petition by the Institute of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary seeking to quash last year’s 5 April government order. The petitioner contended that the government order imposed a burdensome and impractical condition, modifying the principles that have stood the test of time. It suffered from executive mala-fide to indirectly deprive the minority status to the educational institutions established and administered by the minority community, the petitioner submitted. There cannot be a common rule throughout the state to admit a minimum of 50 per cent minority students in the state, as the condition precedent for minority status, while the Christian population was only 6.1 percent in the demography of the state, it was contended.