HC stays quota mandate in minority institutions for class 11 admissions
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Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Thursday granted an interim stay on the Maharashtra government’s directive mandating minority educational institutions to implement seat reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes in first-year junior college (Class 11) admissions.
The division bench of Justices M. S. Karnik and N. R. Borkar passed the order in response to multiple petitions filed by minority institutions challenging the government’s resolution dated May 6. The resolution, issued by the school education and sports department, sought to extend constitutional and social reservations to minority-run institutions.
The court stated it found merit in the arguments raised by the petitioners and ruled that the clause mandating reservation in minority institutions would not apply for Class 11 admissions. The bench said the stay would apply specifically to the provision of the resolution that included minority educational institutions within the scope of the reservation policy.
It directed the state government to submit its response through an affidavit and scheduled the matter for further hearing on August 6.
During Wednesday's proceedings, the court had questioned the government’s rationale for including minority institutions in the reservation policy and asked whether the government was considering withdrawing the resolution or issuing a corrigendum to exclude such institutions.
However, on Thursday, government pleader Neha Bhide informed the court that she had received no instructions from the state regarding withdrawal or amendment of the resolution.
The petitions cited Article 15(5) of the Constitution, which specifically exempts minority educational institutions—whether aided or unaided—from the applicability of reservations for socially and educationally backward classes. They also referred to Article 30(1), which grants minorities the right to establish and administer their own educational institutions, including autonomy over admissions.
The petitioners further pointed out that a similar government resolution issued in 2019 had been withdrawn following legal challenges, highlighting a precedent for the current case.
With PTI inputs