Andhra Pradesh High Court - AmravatiAll Saints Christian Law College vs The State Of Andhra Pradesh on 1 December, 2023Bench: V.SujathaHONOURABLE SMT. JUSTICE V.SUJATHA\n\n           WRIT PETITION No.31128 of 2023\n\nORDER:The present Writ Petition came to be filed underArticle 226of the Constitution of India seeking the\n\nfollowing relief:-"...to issue an appropriate writ more in the nature of\n        Writ of Mandamus declaring the action on the part of\n        Respondents more specially Respondent Nos. 2 and 3\n        in not permitting the Petitioner-Institution to fill the\n        seats to the tune of 50% of the allotted seats by the 3rd\n        Respondent Bar Council of India, with the candidates\n        belonging to minority community despite the fact that\n        the Petitioner-Institution has been granted Minority\n        Status Certificate by the Department of Social Welfare\n        Government of Andhra Pradesh as being arbitrary,\n        illegal, unwarranted and violative of Articles 14 and 19\n        of the Constitution of India and in utter disregard to the\n        catena of Judgments of the Honourable Apex Court on\n        the subject and consequently direct the Respondents to\n        allow the Petitioner-Institution to make admissions on\n        its own to the tune to 50% of the seats allotted by the\n        3rd Respondent Council for LAWCET-2023..."2.    Heard learned counsel for the petitioner, learned\n\nGovernment         Pleader     for        Higher    Education         and\n\nMr.T.Dhanunjaya Reddy, learned counsel appearing for\n\nthe respondent No.3.3.    Brief facts of the case are that the petitioner-\n\nInstitution   is     affiliated      to    the     respondent        No.3-\n\nUniversity vide orders dated 10.10.2023 and got\n\napproval from the Bar Council of India to run Law2courses for the academic Year 2023-2024 and on\n\n25.02.12000, the Government Of Andhra Pradesh\n\nthrough the Social Welfare Department issued Minority\n\nStatus Certificate to the petitioner-institution. While the\n\nmatter being so, the respondent No.3 Council has\n\nallotted LL.B. 3 years - 144, LL.B. 5 years-72, LL.M.- 18\n\nand   LL.M.   (Constitutional   Law)-20   Seats   for   the\n\nacademic year 2023-24 to the petitioner-institution. It\n\nis further submitted that, as per the observations of the\n\nHon'ble Apex Court in catena of decisions and the\n\nexisting law and also as per the G.O.Ms.No.135, dated\n\n19.04.1994, the petitioner institution is free to fill only\n\n50% of seats on its own and the remaining 50% of seats\n\nhave to be filled by the 2nd respondent-Convener.4.    Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that\n\nfor the academic year 2023-2024, the respondent\n\nNos.1, 2 & 3 have allowed the petitioner-institution to\n\nfill only 30% of seats instead of 50% which were\n\ngranted by the respondent No.4 Council and the\n\nrespondent No.3 University and when the petitioner-\n\ninstitution approached the respondent Nos.1 & 2\n\nrequesting them to reconsider the allotment and permit3the petitioner to fill seats as per quota, no action was\n\ntaken by the respondents. Aggrieved by the same, the\n\npresent Writ Petition is filed.5.      Today, when the matter is taken up for hearing,\n\nlearned Government Pleader for Higher Education\n\nsubmitted       a    copy      of    written       instructions   dated\n\n30.11.2023,         received        from     the     respondent      No.2\n\nAPSCHE, wherein it is specifically stated as follows:".......1. For all these years the institutions didn't\n     approach the Competitive Authority for granting Minority\n     Status.2. Even though Minority Status granted by the State\n     Government, the same needs to be approved by\n     Regulatory Authority i.e., (BCI).3. While granting the affiliation the respective affiliating\n     University did not consider the petitioner institution as\n     Minority Institutions. Moreover even till today the\n     Competent Authority did not received any communication\n     from either University/Petitioner Institution with regard\n     to Minority Status.4. As on the 1st phase of LAWCET admission the\n     Petitioner institutions was placed as Non-Minority\n     Institution and accordingly 80 percent of the sanctioned\n     intake is considered as convener intake. Whereas, if the\n     Institution is considered as any Minority Institution, 50\n     percent of the sanctioned intake shall be for the convener\n     quota and remaining 50 percent is considered as\n     Management quota."6.      As    seen    from     the        material    on   record,    the\n\nrespondent Nos.2 & 3 are not permitting the petitioner-\n\ninstitution to fill the seats to the tune of 50% of the4allotted seats by the respondent No.3, on the ground\n\nthat till today the Competent Authority did not received\n\nany communication from either the University or the\n\npetitioner-institution with regard to the Minority Status\n\nand on the other hand it is case of the petitioner that\n\nthe petitioner is already having the Minority Status\n\nCertificate dated 25.02.2000, issued by the Government\n\nOf      Andhra         Pradesh   through   the   Social   Welfare\n\nDepartment for the academic year 2023-2024. In terms\n\nof the said status granted by the authorities, the\n\npetitioner-Institution is entitled to fill 50% of the total\n\nseats allotted by the 3rd respondent Council with\n\ncandidates belonging to the minorities on its own while\n\nthe 50% has to be filed in Convener quota. However,\n\nthe petitioner-institution was not permitted to do so.7.        The Hon'ble Apex Court in T.M.A Pai Foundation\n\n& Ors. Vs State of Karnataka & Ors.,1 dated\n\n31.10.2002, has categorically stated that Minority\n\nInstitutions fall underArticle 30(1)and the said\n\nMinority Institutions are entitled to fill 50% of seats of1(2002) 8 SCC 4815their own community. The relevant portion of the said\n\norder is extracted hereunder:"....10. Several States have totally disagreed with the\n  arguments advanced by the learned Solicitor General with\n  regard to the applicability ofArticle 29(2)and30(1).The\n  States of Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Rajasthan have\n  submitted that the words "their choice" inArticle 30(1)enabled the minority institutions to admit members of the\n  minority community, and that the inability of the minority\n  institutions to admit others as a result of the exercise of\n  "their choice" would not amount to a denial as contemplated\n  underArticle 29(2).The State of Andhra Pradesh has not\n  expressly referred to the inter-play betweenArticle 29(2)andArticle   30(1),   but   has   stated   that    "as    the   minority\n  educational    institutions    are   intended     to    benefit   the\n  minorities, a restriction that at least 50 per cent of the\n  students admitted should come from the particular\n  minority, which has established the institution should\n  be stipulated as a working rule", and that an institution\n  which fulfilled the following conditions should be regarded\n  as minority educational institutions:1. All the office bearers, members of the executive committee\n  of the society must necessarily belong to the concerned\n  religious/linguistic minority without exception.2. The institution should admit only the concerned minority\n  candidates to the extent of sanctioned intake permitted to be\n  filed by the respective managements and that the Court\n  "ought to permit the State to regulate the intake in minority\n  educational institutions with due regard to the need of the\n  community in the area which the institution is intended to\n  serve. In no case should such intake exceed 50% of the total\n  admissions every year."611. The State of Kerala has submitted, again without\n     express reference toArticle 29(2), "that the constitutional\n     right of the minorities should be extended to professional\n     education also, but while limiting the right of the minorities\n     to admit students belonging to their community to 50% of\n     the total intake of each minority institution".8.       As per the observations of the Hon'ble Apex Court\n\nin     the    said     Judgment         and   also      as   per    the\n\nG.O.Ms.No.135,           dated     19.04.1994,         the   petitioner\n\ninstitution is eligible to fill only 50% of seats on its own\n\nand the remaining 50% of seats have to be filled by the\n\n2nd respondent-Convener. In view of the petitioner-\n\ninstitution obtaining the Minority Status Certificate\n\ndated 25.02.2000, for the academic year 2023-2024 the\n\nrespondent Nos.2 & 3 cannot deny the permission to\n\nthe petitioner-institution to fill 50% of the seats allotted\n\nby the respondent No.3-University.9.       Learned counsel for the petitioner has informed\n\nthis      Court      that   though       he    has      submitted     a\n\nrepresentation on 14-11-2023, the same was not\n\nconsidered by the respondents.                   However, learned\n\ncounsel for the petitioner has stated that the petitioner\n\nis ready to submit a fresh representation today itself i.e.7on 01.12.2023, before completion of the office timings,\n\nduly enclosing the Minority Status Certificate.9.    Accordingly, the Writ Petition is disposed of\n\ndirecting the petitioner-institution to communicate the\n\nMinority Status Certificate to the respondent No.2 today\n\nitself i.e. on 01.12.2023, before completion of the office\n\ntimings and on such communication the respondent\n\nNo.2 shall consider the petitioner-institution as a\n\nMinority Institution and thereafter shall allow the\n\npetitioner-institution to make admissions on its own to\n\nthe tune of 50% of the seats allotted by the respondent\n\nNo.3 Council for LAWCET-2023.          Learned Standing\n\nCounsel appearing for respondent No.3 is directed to\n\ncommunicate the said order to the respondent No.2\n\nforthwith. There shall be no order as to costs.Miscellaneous petitions pending, if any, in this Writ\n\nPetition shall stand closed._______________________\n                                     JUSTICE V.SUJATHA\n\nDate : 01.12.2023\nSRT8HONOURABLE SMT. JUSTICE V.SUJATHA\n\n\n\n\n         WRIT PETITION No.31128 of 2023\n\n                Date : 01.12.2023\n\n\n\n\nSRT