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The Delhi High Court today extended till September 30, time granted to Centre to fill up vacant posts in the National Commission for Minorities.

The single judge bench of Justice Rekha Palli passed the order after Centre urged the Court to extend the timeline by three months.

Earlier the bench of Justice Pratibha M Singh on April 23, 2021 had directed the Ministry of Minority Affairs to fill the vacant positions in the Commission on or before July 31, 2021 after the Ministry had sought three months time to complete the appointment owing to the pandemic. The Court had said that “This shall ensure that the Commission functions efficiently and the purpose of the Commission as envisaged under the Act is also fully given effect to.”

The Court was hearing the plea filed by Abhay Ratan Baudh seeking directions for filling up vacant posts of Chairperson and members from the Buddhist, Christian, Parsi, Sikh and Jain communities in the National Commission for Minorities (hereinafter, ‘the Commission’).

The petitioner had submitted that the status of the present composition of the Commission is that out of seven positions, six positions are vacant, including the post of Chairperson. There is only Vice Chairman from the Muslim community who is functioning in effect, at the Commission.

The Ministry of Minority Affairs had earlier submitted an affidavit which said that “under sub-clause 4 of Section 4 of the NCM Act, no specific time period has been provided to fill the post of Chairman and or Members of the Commission. In this regard it is submitted that since the nomination of the Chairperson/ Vice Chairperson/ Members of the Commission is to be made from amongst persons of eminence, ability and integrity and five members including the Chairperson shall be from amongst the minority communities, utmost care and caution has to be taken while nominating the said members to the Commission so as to protect the interests of the minority communities as provided in the Constitution of India and laws enacted by the Parliament of India and the State Legislatures. 15. That due to provision involved in the nomination process, that the nomination should be from amongst persons of eminence, ability and integrity, and also due to the prevailing Covid-19 Pandemic, it is respectfully submitted that the vacancies would be filled up expeditiously keeping in view the vision of the Commission for which it was set up.”

Case Title: Abhay Ratan Baudh vs UOI and ors