The Crossbill News Desk
The Delhi High Court on Friday (February 6) pulled up the Union government over prolonged vacancies in the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) and directed it to file a “better affidavit” detailing the status of appointments to the statutory body.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia found the status report earlier submitted by the under secretary in the Ministry of Minority Affairs inadequate, describing it as “absolutely bald and vague” and lacking any meaningful information on the appointment process.
“It does not say as to when the ministry initiated the process of appointment and what all are the different stages of the process, and after initiation of the said process, it has progressed to what extent,” The Hindu quoted the court as observing.
“We thus require the respondent to file a better affidavit giving the aforesaid details and also putting in place a timeline within which the appointments can be enforced,” the bench ordered.
The directions were issued while hearing a petition filed by Mujahid Nafees, who described himself as the convenor of the Minority Coordination Committee working for minority welfare across the country.
The plea alleged that the Centre’s failure to appoint a chairperson, vice-chairperson and all five members of the commission amounted to executive dereliction.
The order follows an earlier hearing on January 30, when the court had expressed concern over the prolonged vacancies in the NCM. At that time, the bench noted that the commission, a statutory body constituted under an Act of Parliament, had been without a chairperson or any member since April last year.
“This executive dereliction has rendered a vital statutory body, created by an Act of Parliament for the protection and welfare of India’s notified minority communities, entirely defunct and headless,” the petition stated.
It further pointed out that a “series of demissions from office,” beginning in November 2024 and culminating in the chairperson’s exit in April 2025, had left the commission in a state where, “for all practical purposes, has ceased to exist.”
A bench comprising Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia found the status report earlier submitted by the under secretary in the Ministry of Minority Affairs inadequate, describing it as “absolutely bald and vague” and lacking any meaningful information on the appointment process.
“It does not say as to when the ministry initiated the process of appointment and what all are the different stages of the process, and after initiation of the said process, it has progressed to what extent,” The Hindu quoted the court as observing.
“We thus require the respondent to file a better affidavit giving the aforesaid details and also putting in place a timeline within which the appointments can be enforced,” the bench ordered.
The directions were issued while hearing a petition filed by Mujahid Nafees, who described himself as the convenor of the Minority Coordination Committee working for minority welfare across the country.
The plea alleged that the Centre’s failure to appoint a chairperson, vice-chairperson and all five members of the commission amounted to executive dereliction.
The order follows an earlier hearing on January 30, when the court had expressed concern over the prolonged vacancies in the NCM. At that time, the bench noted that the commission, a statutory body constituted under an Act of Parliament, had been without a chairperson or any member since April last year.
“This executive dereliction has rendered a vital statutory body, created by an Act of Parliament for the protection and welfare of India’s notified minority communities, entirely defunct and headless,” the petition stated.
It further pointed out that a “series of demissions from office,” beginning in November 2024 and culminating in the chairperson’s exit in April 2025, had left the commission in a state where, “for all practical purposes, has ceased to exist.”
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