SC urged to restore minority status of SGPC-run institutes

R Sedhuraman

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Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, January 15

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) today pleaded with a five-member Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur to permanently restore the minority status of its educational institutions in Punjab.

The Punjab government had issued two notifications in 2001 and 2006 granting minority status to SGPC-run educational institutions, including medical and engineering colleges, allowing the committee to reserve up to 50 per cent of the seats exclusively for students from the Sikh community.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court, however, quashed both the notifications on December 17, 2007, on a PIL by Nidhhi Parmar. Sikhs did not qualify to be minorities in Punjab as they accounted for majority of the population in the state, the HC had ruled.

On SGPC’s appeal, the SC had passed an interim order in 2008, staying the HC ruling. Arguing for the SGPC today, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi pleaded that SGPC-run educational institutions granted admission to Sikhs not only from Punjab but also from other states where they were in minority and as such minority status should not be denied to them.

Dwivedi made the contention in response to a query from the Bench as to why Sikh students, who belonged to the majority community in Punjab, should be given admission under the minority quota. Sikhs did not qualify to be a minority group on the basis of their numerical strength, not on the basis of their financial status, the Bench remarked. The other members of the Bench are Justices FMI Kalifulla, AK Sikri, SA Bobde and R Banumathi.

Dwivedi also noted that SGPC was an inter-state body with its presence outside Punjab as well, including Haryana, Himachal and Chandigarh. At this, the Bench said the SGPC was seeking to defeat the judicial order on this pretext.

The SGPC was formed to manage religious places, not for other roles. “Your committee may have a wider role, but your status (minority or majority) will be determined by your population in the state from where you are operating,” the Bench said.