Minority Scholarship: Supreme Court Notice to Governments

The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Central and State Governments on a petition challenging the High Court's decision to quash the 80:20 ratio in the Minority Student Scholarship. New petitions will be considered along with appeals, including from the state government. Justice L. The action was taken by a bench headed by Nageshwara Rao. V.M Anwar Sadat, a native of Aluva, approached the Supreme Court. The High Court has quashed the proportion of 80 per cent minority scholarships for Muslims, 20 per cent for Christians and other minorities. It was also suggested that scholarships should be given in proportion to the population.

On May 28 last year, the High Court had directed that scholarships for minority students be distributed on an equal basis as per the latest census report held by the State Minorities Commission. According to the 2011 census, the government had identified Christians at 18.38%, Muslims at 26.56%, Buddhists at 0.01%, Jains at 0.01% and Sikhs at 0.01%. But the government also went on appeal amid strong protests by Muslim organizations. There was widespread criticism of this from the Christian community.