Secondary School Certificate as condition for determining minority status of candidates upheld by Supreme Court

The Supreme Court today upheld the Rules framed by Andhra Pradesh government which mandated Secondary School Certificate as a condition for determining minority status of candidates who seek to avail the benefit of minority seats in minority educational institutions..A Bench of Justices Indu Malhotra and Sanjiv Khanna held that the Rules have been framed to safeguard the interest of genuine minority students, so that their seats are not taken away by those who resort to false conversions overnight, for the purpose of securing admission. This would preserve the minority character of the institution, rather than act as an intrusion to the same, the Court held..The Petitioner a “Christian Minority Educational Institution” had challenged the vires of the Rules framed by the Government of Andhra Pradesh vide GOM No. 57 dated March 21, 2005, GOM No. 92 dated November 16, 2006, and GOM No. 98 dated December 06, 2006 for admission to the B. Ed. Course in the State of Andhra Pradesh..As per G.O.M. No. 55 dated March 20, 2005, minority colleges were permitted to fill up 85% of their total seats, with students belonging to the minority community, under the Management Quota..As per Clause 3(i) of the GOM No. 57, the Government of Andhra Pradesh had directed that the criteria for determining the minority status of candidates would be as follows :.“As there were reports of students/candidates obtaining religious conversion certificates overnight by exploiting the provisions contained in G.O. 6th above, the following condition is prescribed. For the purpose of determining the minority status of candidates seeking admission into 85% management quota in the B.Ed., minority colleges, the Secondary School Certificates or Transfer Certificates (T.C.) from the school from which they have studied shall be the basis. In the absence of a T.C., the candidate should obtain a certificate from the Head of the Institution in which he/she studies in the proforma prescribed (AnnexureI) to this order. Further, the students submitting bogus minority community certificates shall be dealt with under the relevant sections of the I.P.C. apart from losing their seats following the due procedure.”.The Court in its order noted that statistical data was placed on record before the High Court which highlighted that Baptism Certificates were being obtained by students from other communities, so as to obtain admission in the Management Quota of Minority Educational Institutions..In the additional counter affidavit filed by the Respondent – State before the High Court, it was revealed that a large number of admissions were made on the basis of conversion certificates. The enquiry conducted revealed that 67 out of 200 students in New College of Education at Nizamabad, 90 out of 136 in Rayalseema College of Education at Kurnool, 82 out of 102 in Bhongir College of Education, 60 out of 85 in Jyoti College of Education at Siricilla, 91 out of 102 in Anebesent College of Education at Khammam, and 85 out of 102 in Trinity College of Education, were admitted on the basis of Baptism Certificates. In most of these cases, the candidates declared themselves to be Christians subsequent to the date of submitting their applications for the Entrance Test..GOM No. 57 prescribed uniform criteria for determination of the status of all minority students. The Court, therefore, held that it safeguards the interest of genuine minority students so that their seats are not taken away by those who resort to false conversions overnight, for the purpose of securing admission. This would preserve the minority character of the institution, rather than act as an intrusion to the same, the Court ruled..Hence, it upheld the Rules and dismissed the petition..[Read Judgment]