Landmark decision highlights exemption of minority institutions from reservation policies, emphasizing constitutional nuances.

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has issued a significant ruling stating that the reservation policies for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC) do not apply to minority educational institutions. This announcement came from a bench presided over by Chief Justice S.V. Gangapurwala and Justice P.D. Audikesavlu during one of their recent decisions.

The Bench also partially allowed the appeal and petition of 'Justice Bashir Ahmad Syed College for Women,' a city-based institution. The college had contested the cancellation of the extension of its religious minority status, seeking a permanent religious minority status certificate.

According to the bench, while reservation is implemented for socially and educationally backward classes, SCs, and STs in educational institutions, minority educational institutions are excluded from this provision under Article 15(5) of the Indian Constitution.

Article 15(5) does not grant the state the authority to compel minority educational institutions to admit students belonging to SCs, STs, or Backward Classes. The bench emphasized that minority institutions are allowed to admit 50% of students from the minority community and 50% from other communities.

The Bench further clarified that minority status is not a permanent designation and competent authorities have the ability to implement regulatory and supervisory measures. Moreover, the state government retains the right to impose a 50% limit on the admission of students from the minority community.