New Delhi, (Samajweekly) The Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) on Monday opposed before the Delhi High Court a plea by a law student, who has sought 10 per cent reservation for students belonging to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category at the time of admission from academic year 2023-24.
The JMI had earlier told the high court that it was declared a minority educational institution in 2011 and the provision of 10 per cent reservation for students from the economically weaker section (EWS) will not be applicable to it.
In an affidavit filed in response to the plea, the JMI has said that the government issued a notification in 2019 that the office memorandum enabling the provision of 10 per cent reservation for EWS students in admission to educational institutions will not be applicable to minority institutions and Jamia is covered by it.
The university’s standing counsel, Pritish Sabharwal, filed the affidavit saying that an order was passed by the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions in 2011, declaring Jamia a minority educational institution.
JMI also asserted Public Interest Litigations (PIL) were being exploited by private individuals and the present petition deserved to be dismissed for being without any merit.
A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Yashwant Varma had earlier granted two weeks’ time to the university to file its reply to the petition filed as a PIL.
The reservation is sought in view of the provisions of Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act, 2019 under Article 15(6) of the Constitution.
Senior advocate Arun Bhardwaj, appearing for petitioner Akansha Goswami, had submitted that either Jamia could be a Central university or a minority institution and cannot be both.
He had said the admission process has begun from April and will go on till September.
The court has posted the matter for next hearing on August 17.
In March, the high court had issued notice on the plea to the Centre, the University Grants Commission (UGC), and the varsity.
The petitioner sought it to implement the letter the UGC had, on January 18, 2019, issued requesting Vice Chancellors of all Central universities, including Jamia Millia Islamia, to implement 10 per cent EWS reservation at the time of admission from the academic year 2019-2020.
Goswami’s PIL claims that JMI issued a press release on February 5, 2019, refusing to implement the reservation quota for EWS students “citing its status as Minority Institution” under Article 30 of the Constitution.
The plea seeks direction on the varsity to withdraw its admission prospectus it had issued for the academic year 2023-2024 for undergraduate and graduate courses without making any provision for the 10 per cent EWS reservation and issue it afresh after making provisions for EWS reservation.
Jamia lost its identity by its conversion into the central university which was established by the Jamia Millia Islamia Act, 1988, the plea said.
“It is evident from the fact that Jamia Millia Islamia Act, 1988, had dissolved Jamia Millia Islamia Society and its memorandum of association and incorporated those provisions in the act which were completely different from its earlier MOA,” the plea states.
