If minority institution chooses qualified person from minority community to lead, courts can't go into merits of choice: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that once a minority educational institution makes a conscious choice of a qualified person from the “minority community” to lead the institution, then the court cannot go into the merits of the choice or the rationality and propriety of the process of it [Birpal Singh v Nutan Marathi Senior Secondary School & Ors]..Justice Chandra Dhari Singh said that the rights of minority institutions are protected under various specialized legislations and are also backed by assurance of enforcement and, therefore, being part of their rudimentary rights, the rights of these institutions are invested with sanctity and a position higher than that of the ordinary law.Consequently every legal provision or executive action must conform to the mandates implied for the welfare of the community, the Court said. “In that regard, the right under Article 30(1) is absolute,” it held. .The judge said that every linguistic minority may have its own social, economic and cultural limitations and a constitutional right to conserve such culture and language.Therefore, it would also have a right to choose teachers, who possess the eligibility and qualifications as provided, without really being influenced by the fact of their religion and community and the same can be done by the process defined by the school management, the court said..“Linguistic and cultural compatibility can be legitimately claimed as one of the desirable features of a linguistic minority in relation to selection of eligible and qualified teachers," the judgment said. .The Court made the observation while dismissing a plea challenging the decision of a Delhi based Nutan Marathi Senior Secondary School to appoint one Shubhada Bapat as its vice-principal.Petitioner, Birpal Singh, had argued that the post of vice-principal of the school fell vacant in 2009. Though a person was appointed to the post, the appointment was set aside by the High Court. Subsequently, Bapat was appointed to the post despite her being junior to him..The school, however, argued that it is a Marathi institution and since the Marathi speaking community is a linguistic minority in Delhi, it is entitled to appoint its own teachers.Singh stated that the school cannot be classified a minority institution since it has not been notified as one by the National Commissions for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI)..The Court, however, noted that as per a circular issued by Directorate of Education of the Delhi Government, the school has been recognised as a ‘linguistic minority institution’.Justice Singh concluded that the decision of appointment of a teacher is part of the regular administration and management of the school and a linguistic minority is entitled to conserve its language and culture by constitutional mandate..Therefore, the selection of vice principal made by the school is not contrary to the settled law, the Court added.“Due to the aforementioned observations and law laid down by the Hon‟ble Supreme Court, this Court does not find any merit in the instant writ petition. Accordingly, the instant writ petition stands dismissed,” the Court ordered. .Advocate Chandan Kumar appeared for the petitioner.Advocates Romy Chacko, Sudesh K Singh, Astha Gupta and Shubham Singh appeared for the respondents..[Read Judgment]