Delhi HC rejects plea against winding up Maulana Azad Education Foundation
New Delhi, Apr 16: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday upheld the Centre's decision to dissolve the Maulana Azad Education Foundation (MAEF), which was set up in 1989 for promoting education among educationally backward minorities, holding there was no impropriety or irregularity in arriving at it.
A bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan dismissed a PIL by Syeda Saiyidain Hameed, John Dayal and Daya Singh and said several welfare programmes for the minority communities are being carried out devotedly by the Ministry of Minority Affairs and it could not be said that the interest of the minority communities was being hampered due to the dissolution.
Maintaining that the decision to dissolve the MAEF was "well considered" and in accordance with the legal framework, the said it cannot sit in appeal and examine the appropriateness of a policy of the government.
"The decision to dissolve the MAEF has been duly taken by the General Body of the MAEF and this Court finds no impropriety or irregularity in the process adopted by the said General Body in arriving at the said decision," the bench, also comprising Justice Mini Pushkarna, said.
"This Court finds no merit in the present petition and is not inclined to interfere in the considered decision taken by the respondents. Accordingly, the present petition is dismissed," the court said.
The petitioners had approached the high court against the February 7 order of the Ministry of Minority Affairs which instructed the MAEF to carry out the closure process at the earliest and submit copy of the closure certificate issued by the Registrar of Societies of the Delhi government on completion of all procedures, as per extant laws.
The Centre had defended its decision in the court, saying MAEF has become "obsolete" when there is a dedicated ministry holistically executing schemes for the benefit of the minorities.
The ministry’s order was issued in reference to a proposal received from the Central Waqf Council (CWC) on January 21 to close the MAEF.
The court had reserved its verdict on the PIL on March 13 after hearing both the sides.
The petitioners had said in their PIL that the ministry’s order not only deprived the deserving students, especially girls, from availing the benefits of the schemes of the MAEF but is also without jurisdiction, completely malafide, arbitrary and a colourable exercise by authorities.
The petition, filed through advocate Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi, claimed that such an "abrupt, opaque and completely arbitrary" decision to dismantle an almost four-decade-old institution and scavenge its assets and funds is bound to have an adverse impact on the lives of a number of students, schools and NGOs.
In its 30-page judgment, the court said in public interest jurisdiction, it has to look at the “big picture” and ensure that the cause of the minorities, in particular the minority girl students, is not prejudiced.
In the present case, it added, various welfare schemes are being carried out by the Ministry to cater to the specific educational and vocational needs of the minority communities, including girls of those communities, and the contention of the petitioners that the government schemes do not have similar objects cannot be accepted.
"The Ministry has introduced various programmes designed specifically to cater to the educational and skill development needs of the minority groups. Further, the various initiatives being carried out by the MAEF to advance education amongst the Educationally Backward Minorities, including the scholarship programmes, have been integrated into comparable programmes and initiatives of the respondent no.1-Ministry," it noted.
"Therefore, the welfare programmes aimed for the minority communities are being carried out devotedly by the respondent no.1-Ministry. Therefore, it cannot be said that the interest of the minority communities for their educational and welfare development, is being hampered in any manner on account of the dissolution of the MAEF," it said.
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SC stays CBI probe into West Bengal govt officials' role in teacher recruitment scam
New Delhi, Apr 29: The Supreme Court on Monday stayed a Calcutta High Court order directing the CBI to probe the role of West Bengal government officials in a teacher recruitment scam. It, however, refused to stay for now the cancellation of the appointment of over 25,000 teachers and non-teaching staff.
The top court was hearing a plea by the West Bengal government against a high court order invalidating the appointment of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff made by the School Service Commission (SSC) in state-run and state-aided schools.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra, however, refused to stay the high court order cancelling the appointments and said it will hear the matter on May 6.
Observing that taking away the jobs of about 25,000 persons is a serious matter, the top court asked if it is possible to segregate the valid and invalid appointments on the basis of the material available and who the beneficiaries of the fraud are.
"We will stay the direction which says the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) will undertake further investigation against officials in the state government," the bench said.
Calcutta High Court had said the CBI would undertake further investigations with regard to the persons in the state government involved in approving the creation of supernumerary posts to accommodate illegal appointments.
If necessary, the CBI will undertake custodial interrogation of such persons involved, it had said.
Challenging the order, the state government, in its appeal filed before the top court, said the high court cancelled the appointments "arbitrarily".
"The high court failed to appreciate the ramification of cancelling the entire selection process, leading to straightaway termination of teaching and non-teaching staff from service with immediate effect, without giving sufficient time to the petitioner state to deal with such an exigency, rendering the education system at a standstill," the plea said.
Calcutta High Court last week declared the selection process as "null and void" and directed the CBI to probe the appointment process. It also asked the central agency to submit a report within three months.
"All appointments granted in the selection processes involved being violative of articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India, are declared null and void and cancelled," the high court said in its April 22 order.
The high court said those appointed outside the officially available 24,640 vacancies, appointed after the expiry of the official date of recruitment, and those who submitted blank Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets but obtained appointment to return all remunerations and benefits received by them with 12 per cent interest per annum within four weeks.
Observing that it had given "anxious consideration to the passionate plea" that persons who obtained the appointments legally would be prejudiced if the entire selection process was cancelled, the bench said it hardly had any choice left.
The high court held that all appointments involved were violative of articles 14 (equality before law) and 16 (prohibiting discrimination in employment in any government office) of the Constitution.
"It is shocking that, at the level of the cabinet of the state government, a decision is taken to protect employment obtained fraudulently in a selection process conducted by SSC for state-funded schools, knowing fully well that, such appointments were obtained beyond the panel and after expiry of the panel, at the bare minimum," the high court had said.
It said unless "there is a deep connection between the persons perpetuating the fraud and the beneficiaries" with persons involved in the decision-making process, such action to create supernumerary posts to protect illegal appointments is "inconceivable".
The division bench had also rejected a prayer by some appellants, including the SSC, for a stay on the order and asked the commission to initiate a fresh appointment process within a fortnight from the date of the results of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
The bench, constituted by the high court chief justice on a direction of the Supreme Court, had heard 350 petitions and appeals relating to the selection of candidates for appointment by the SSC in the categories of teachers of classes 9, 10, 11 and 12 and group-C and D staffers through the SLST-2016.
In its 282-page judgment, the high court had said retaining appointees selected through "such a dubious process" would be contrary to public interest.
