LexMISBAH ALAM SHAIKH versus THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND ANR.
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A
MISBAH ALAM SHAIKH
v.
THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA AND ANR.
FEBRUARY 10, 1997
B
[K. RAMASWAMY AND G.T. NANAVATI, JJ.)
National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.
Ss. 3 and 9-Minority Commissio1t-Set up by Government of
C Maharashtra-Abolished by successor State Govemmelll-Held, it cannot be
said that the decision to abolish Minority Commission by State Government
was not in accordance with law-There is no statutory compulsion on the part
of State Government to constitute the "Minority Commission" in the State-It ·
is the duty of the Central Government to constitute a National Commission
D and it shall be the duty and the responsibility of the National Commission to
ensure compliance of the principles and programmes evaluated in s. 9 protect-
ing the illlerest of minorities.
E
Constitution of India, 1950:
Article 226-Held, State Govemment cannot be directed by a man-
damus, to constitute a Min01ity Commission or to reconstitute the Commis-
sion which was abolished by it due to want of statutory compulsion.
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 796 of
F 1997.
G
From the Judgment and Order dated 30.10.95 of the Bombay High
Court in W.P. No 1349 of 1995.
M.N. Shroff for the Appellant.
K.N. Bhat, Additional Solicitor General, S.K. Dholakia, Ms. Niran-
jana Singh, Ms. Sushma Suri, A.K. Srivastava, S.M. Jadhav and D.M.
'("
Nargolkar for the Respondents.
H
The following Order of the Court was delivered :
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M.ASHAIKHv. STATE
1113
Leave granted. We have heard the counsel on both sides.
A
This appeal by special leave arises from the judgment of the Bombay
High Court dated 30.10.95 made in W.P. No. 1349/95 dismissing the writ
petition. The appellant has challenged the abolition of the Minority Com-
mission set up by the State Government. When the matter had come up B
earlier, we had issued notice as to why the National Commission should
not take up the issue of protecting the interest of the minorities in the State
of Maharashtra as under :
"to show cause why the National Commission for minorities should C
not undertake the responsibility under the statute for the protec-
tion and safeguarding the interest of the minorities in the-State of
Maharashtra."
Pursuant thereto, the National Commission as well as the Central
Government have filed their counter affidavits. The State of Maharashtra D .
has independently filed its counter. Section 3 of the National Commission
for Minorities Act, 1992, for short the Act, provides that the Central
Government shall constitute a body to be known as "the National Commis-
sion" for Minorities to exercise the powers conferred on, and to perform
the functions assigned to it under the Act. Section 9 of the Act in Chapter E
III envisages the functions of the Commission. The Commission shall
perform all or any of the following functions, namely, (a) to evaluate the
progress of the development of minorities under the Union and States; (b)
to monitor the working of the safeguards provided in the Constitution and
in laws enacted by Parliament and the State Legislatures; (c) make recom-
F
mendations for the effective implementation of safeguards for the protec-
tion of the interests of minorities by the Central Government. or the State
Governments. Sub-section (2) postulates that the Central Government shall
cause the recommendations referred to in clause (c) of sub- section (1) to
be laid before each House of Parliament along with a memorandum G
explaining the action taken or proposed to be taken on the recommenda-
tions relating to the Union and the reasons for non-acceptance, if any, of
any of such recommendations. Thus, it could be seen that under the
statute as rightly conceded by the learned counsel for the appellant, there
is no statutory compulsion, on the part of the State Government, to H
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[1997] 1 S.C.R.
A constitute a Commission called "the Minority Commission" in the State. On
-;j.-'
the other hand, by operation of Section 3 read with Section 9, it is the duty
of the Central Government to constitute a National Commission and it shall
be the duty and the responsibility of the National Commission to ensure
compliance of the principles and programmes evaluated in Section 9 of the
B Act protecting the interest of the minorities for their development and
working of the safeguards provided to them in the Constitution and the
laws enacted by the Parliament as well as the State legislaturExcerpt shown. Read the full judgment & AI analysis in Lexace.