Delhi HC expresses concern over ‘non-functional’ minorities’ commission
A bench comprising Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia, dealing with the matter of public interest litigation (PIL) filed by petitioner Mujahid Nafees over vacancies in the NCM, observed that the commission is a statutory body without a chairman or members since April last year.
He asked the center to produce an affidavit detailing the steps it had taken to fill all vacancies and questioned his lawyer whether it was reasonable to wait another six months to complete the process.
Chief Justice Upadhyaya said, “Keep this (the act of creating commission) in the wardrobe. After a year (you want more) six more months.”
The court said the law only required authorities to nominate people for vacant positions and that no “selection process” had to be initiated in this way.
“There is a statutory body that is assigned certain duties by law by the parliament. It is the duty of the parliament to keep the commission functioning. Three members retired in December 2024. The vice president retired in November 2024. The president also retired in April 2025. How long has passed since December 2024? When we ask how much time you will allocate, you say six months. Does this make sense?” the court asked the Centre’s lawyer.
The lawyer said the nomination process to fill the vacancies was ongoing and it would take another six months to complete. The court said the commission was working towards the development and welfare of minorities and officials were expected to complete the “long-standing” task of nominating candidates for vacancies, rendering the commission dysfunctional.
“It is worrying that the commission currently appears to be dysfunctional due to vacancies in the chairman, vice-chairman and members,” the court said.
“In view of the foregoing, we call on the respondent to file a statement detailing the steps taken to fill the vacancies on the commission and the time period likely to be taken to complete that process.”
The petitioner’s lawyer said the present petition is the “second leg” of the litigation regarding vacancies in the commission.
He said that in an earlier lawsuit against the vacancies, the “excuse” was COVID-19 and the resulting lockdown, but this time there was no such excuse.
He added that after the vice president leaves his post in November 2024 and the members’ terms of office expire in December 2024, the president serves on the commission until April 2025, when his term of office will also end.
The court listed the matter for hearing next Friday.
Claiming to be the convener of the Minority Coordination Committee, Nafees alleged that the complete and systematic incapacity of the NCM was due to the Centre’s abject failure to appoint its president, vice-president and all five members.
“This executive negligence has rendered a vital statutory body created by an Act of Parliament for the protection and welfare of India’s sanctioned minority communities completely dysfunctional and headless,” the plea said.
He sought directions to the Center through the Ministry of Minority Affairs to immediately initiate and complete the process of appointment of chairman, vice-chairman and members of the NCM under the National Minorities Commission Act.
The defense also requested that the appointment process be completed in a transparent and timely manner, preferably within four weeks from the date of the court decision.
