Delhi HC seeks Jamia’s stand in plea against ‘religion-based reservation’ in staff recruitment

“It appears that the matter requires consideration. Issue notice. Let counter affidavit be filed within three weeks.
In the meanwhile, the Respondent University is directed to keep one post vacant for the petitioners in each category [i.e. –(i) Assistant Registrar, (ii)Section Officer and, (iii)LDC (lower divisional clerk), under which they have applied. It is clarified that the recruitment process, as such, has not been stayed,” the HC said.

Senior counsel Arun Bhardwaj, appearing for two petitioner candidates, submitted that the university had advertised 241 non-teaching posts through its advertisement dated April 29.

The petitioner no. 1, a Scheduled Caste (SC) category candidate, applied for the post of Assistant Registrar and Section Officer while petitioner No. 2, a Scheduled Tribe (ST) category candidate, had applied for the post of Lower Division Clerk. The grievance of the petitioners was that no reservation has been extended to SC and ST candidates by the respondent university, which is a Central university, the court noted.

The attention of the court was drawn to the resolution dated June 23, 2014, passed by the executive council of the university, where it was resolved that the university is “now minority institution” and it is not “bound to follow the Reservation Policy of Government of India” as it is exempted under Article 30 (1) of the Constitution of India.
Bhardwaj submitted that the “ordinance 6 (VI) (Academic)” which provides for “reservation of seats and other special provision for admission” based on religious belief has been made applicable also to the teaching and non-teaching positions in the terms of the resolution of 2014.

He argued that the advertisement and the resolution were “contrary to the constitutional scheme of reservation besides being contrary to the statutory scheme”, as, Section 7 of the Jamia Millia Islamia Act, 1988 mandates that the university shall be open to “all classes, castes and creed and it shall not be lawful for the university to adopt or impose on any person any test whatsoever of religious belief or profession to entitle him to be admitted therein as a student or staff”.