The State Must Treat All Notified Minorities Equally: Kerala HC Overturns Scheme Giving Muslims 80% Minority Scholarships

WHAT WAS THE JUDGEMENT

• Kerala High Court squashed orders of the Kerala government.
• The scheme gave scholarships to Muslim and Latin Catholic/Coverted Christians in the ratio 80:20.
• The Bench comprised of Justice Shaji P Chaly and Justice
• Justice Shaji P Chaly declared that the order was not legally sustainable.
• The State was directed to provide merit-cum-means scholarships to minority communities equally.
• The State had to treat all notified minorities equally.
• This was to be done in accordance with the population census available with the State Minority Commission.

WHAT WAS IN THE PETITION FILED

• The petition was filed by a lawyer, Justine Pallivathukal.
• It alleged that the State government was giving ‘undue preference’ to a particular community over other minorities.
• Charges of discrimination towards the Latin Catholic community were made.
• Such a scholarship scheme was deemed to be detrimental to the other minorities in the state.
• The petitioner sought that the scholarship scheme either be distributed uniformly or in accordance with the census figures.

WHAT WAS THE SCHEME ABOUT

• The scheme came into action in 2015.
• The scheme was initiated in accordance with the proposals of a 11 member committee.
• This committee was to implement the recommendations of Justice Rajinder Sachar Committee.
• The Sachar Committee was created to examine the socio-economic status of Muslims in India.
• The State Government granted 5000 scholarships in graduate and post graduate courses to Muslim women students.
• In 2011, this scheme was extended to Latin Catholic community.

STATE’S ARGUMENTS

• The State put forth arguments that the Muslim community were lagging behind in college enrollment.
• 37.8% of Muslims were landless.
• The unemployment rate was 55.2% among Muslims.
• The Muslim community had been deprived in every aspect as per the reports of the Sachar Committee.
• Urgent affirmative action to uplift the said community was required.

What are your thoughts on the Kerala High Court’s order? Let us know in the comment section below!