Delhi HC rejects plea against winding up Maulana Azad Education Foundation

New Delhi, Apr 16 (PTI) 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.