THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Supreme Court on Friday admitted the state government’s petition challenging the Kerala High Court order issued in May quashing the 80:20 ratio in providing minority scholarships to Muslims and Latin/Converted Christians.
The court refused to issue a stay on the order, but directed to issue notices to all concerned. The matter has been posted for a detailed hearing after four weeks. Along with the state government’s petition, an NGO -- Minority Indians Planning and Vigilance Commission Trust -- has also challenged the HC petition.
Appearing for the trust, advocate Haris Beeran sought an urgent stay on the HC order that suggested distribution of minority scholarships to all minority communities in proportion to their population as per 2011 census.
However, senior advocate C U Singh who represented the state government didn’t seek an urgent stay, but suggested issuing notices to the concerned in the petition seeking a stay on the HC order. The SC division bench comprising Justice Nageswar Rao and Justice B S Gavai observed that they couldn’t issue an urgent stay on the HC order and cited that the state government also hadn’t sought the same.
In the appeal, the state contended that the decision to provide more scholarships to Muslims as the Sachar committee and Paloli committee appointed to study the backwardness of Muslim community documented the educational backwardness of the community and recommended scholarships to address the same.
In 2011, Latin Catholics and converted Christians were also added to the list and 20% of the scholarships were reserved for them considering their backwardness.
The state also said expanding the realm of scholarships to all minorities will only result in several ineligible candidates receiving the benefits. As per the new formula devised in accordance with the HC order, students belonging to all Christian denominations, including economically and educationally forward sections, are eligible for scholarships.