Organisation Once Declared As A Minority Institution Always Retains Its Minority Status: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has held that once an organisation has been accorded minority status, it would continue to be recognised as a minority institution and would not be expected to routinely approach the state authorities to retain such status.

The matter, challenging the status of a minority school, came up for hearing before a division bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice C. Chatterjee (Das), which dismissed the writ petition. "One a minority, always a minority," the bench observed. 

Court also questioned the locus standi of the petitioner while observing that he had submitted documents which he would have had no access to in regular course.

Certificate of minority commission not necessary for organisation to retain minority status

The court held that the Supreme Court had already laid down several judgements while interpreting Article 30 of the Constitution, where it had held that a school which is a minority school, would continue to be so whether the government declared it so or not.

To this effect, the bench cited the Supreme Court case of N Ahmed vs Management of MJ High School (1988) 

Court also held that in such cases, even a certificate of the minority commission declaring the status of the organisation as a inority institution would not be required to ascertain its status.

In observing so, the court dismissed the writ petition.

Case: TAPAS PAL VS STATE OF WEST BENGAL & ORS

Case No: WPA/13622/2019

Order to be uploaded soon