NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR MINORITY EDU. INSTITUTIONS 4644(MS)13 Vs. ABHINAWA SEWA SANSTHAN MAHAVIDYALAYA AND ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions(Commission) is in the present special appeal seeking to question the correctness of a judgment dated 29 July 2015 of the learned Single Judge which construes the provisions of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions Act, 2004(Act). The learned Single Judge has held that the Commission does not have original jurisdiction in regard to a determination or declaration of the status of any institution as a minority educational institution. Though the Commission has been entrusted with the power under Section 11(f) of the Act to decide all questions relating to the status of an institution as a minority educational institution and declare its status as such, the learned Single Judge has held that the Commission has only an appellate power under Sections 12A and 12B of the Act and that the power which is vested in it under Section 11(f) must be treated as a power exercisable with reference to the appellate jurisdiction. In other words, it has been held that the Commission would have no original jurisdiction while exercising its powers under Section 11(f) of the Act. This interpretation which has been placed on the provisions of the Act by the learned Single Judge has been called into question in the present special appeal by the Commission.

(2.) Section 2(g) of the Act defines the expression "Minority Educational Institution" to mean a college or an educational institution established and administered by a minority or minorities. The expression "minority" for the purposes of the Act is defined by Section 2(f) to mean a community notified as such by the Central Government. Section 3 empowers the Central Government to establish the Commission to exercise powers conferred on, and to perform the functions assigned to it, under the Act. Chapter III of the Act deals with the rights of a minority educational institution. Section 10 of the Act provides as follows:

(3.) The functions and powers of the Commission have been provided in Chapter IV of the Act. Section 11 is to the following effect: