Jamia to continue with its minority status, says High Court

The National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI) headed by Justice M.S.A. Siddiqui had recently granted "minority" status to the university which will enable it to reserve up to 50 percent seats for Muslim students.
A division bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Sanjiv Khanna Wednesday also made it clear that those students who get admission under the new reservation policy will have to wait for the final outcome of the court order that will come out on July 14. A PIL (public interest litigation) had challenged the grant of minority status to Jamia Millia Islamia university.
Recalling the circumstances when the university was founded, the PIL claims Jamia was always envisioned as a secular national university and "it's a travesty that it has been declared a minority institution". "The university is a central university of national importance and is an alloy of secular Indian culture where members of all caste, creed and religions have been benefited and cannot be conferred with the status of minority institution," the petition, filed by advocates Rakesh Kumar on behalf of Sharma, said.
Prashant Bhushan in his petition said: "The admission policy of the university as approved in the academic council meeting held on March 29, does not have any provision for reservation for the SC, ST and OBC candidates, instead there is provision for total 50 percent reservation for Muslim candidates.""It is pertinent to mention that reservation for SC, ST and OBC candidates is a constitutional provision which all central universities have to follow," said Bhushan.