Sikhs not minority in Punjab: HC

Dec 18:  In a major outcome on the issue of minority reservation, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday annulled the Punjab government notifications of April 13, 2001, allowing 50 percent reservation for Sikh students in Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee run educational institutions.

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A comprising Justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and Ajai Lamba observed that as per the 2001 census Sikh constitutes 59.9 percent of the total state population and on the basis of ‘minority declaration’ the Punjab government doesn’t fulfill the appropriate parameter to declare a particular community minority.

The SGPC conducts 30 colleges include two medical colleges, one dental college and two engineering colleges in the state, where half of the seats in all colleges have been reserved for Sikhs and Punjab government has validated this reservation policy by giving notification on April 13, 2001.

“There is nothing to show from the written statement by the state of Punjab that it had any material or even a grievance that, as a group, the Sikhs apprehended deprivation of their religious, cultural or educational rights in the state of Punjab from any other community, who may be in majority and who may gain political power in the elections. On this short ground, the impugned notification cannot be sustained in law”, said bench.

“Question is whether there is any scrap of material justifying that in Punjab, Sikhs in general were such a group who deserved protection from deprivation of their rights by other communities. The answer clearly is in the negative.”, said justice Goel while rejecting the argue of state.

“On account of influx of persons of different religions from other states into Punjab, Sikhs are in a minority.”, state had argued.

Avtar Singh Makkar, the chief of Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee is willing to challenge this directive in the apex court.

The notification was passed in April, 2001 for protecting Sikhs in educational institutes run by Sikh’s top honour institute, Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Commitee.

But Barnala based student Sahil Mittal had challenged this notification in the Punjab and Haryana High court by filing a writ petition against SGPC claiming that ‘if there was no rule of 50% reservation in the state for the Sikhs, he might get the seat in the Baba Farid University of Health Science on the basis of his own merit.”

Mittal has completed his intermediate course and appeared in the medical competition examination for getting admission in the MBBS, but could not succeed to get admission despite of getting secured position in the merit list due to reservation notification provided by Punjab government in April 13, 2001 as he claimed in the petition.

According to 2001 census, Sikhs constitute 59.9 per cent of the state population while the Hindus make 37 percent.

Pronouncing the order in the open court, the bench said, “secularism and equality are basic features, particularly in professional education, and additional protection for minorities which may allow admissions to professional colleges only to students belonging to a minority by ignoring the entire merit available, cannot be conferred unless there is substantial merit.”