SC to consider plea against judgement on right to appoint teachers in West Bengal Madarsa

The Supreme Court on Monday said that if merit was not the sole and governing criterion for the selection of teachers in minority institutions, they may lag behind non-minority institutions rather than keep in step with them.

The top court upheld validity and constitutionality of a 2008 West Bengal law setting up a Commission to select teachers in government-aided ‘Madrasa’ over there, saying appointing meritorious candidates would satisfy national interest as well as those of minority institutions. “Any departure from the concept of merit and excellence would not make a minority educational institution an effective vehicle to achieve what has been contemplated in various decisions of this court,” a bench of Justices Arun Mishra and U U Lalit said.

The top court relied upon the Constitution bench decision in the T M A Pai Foundation case (2002) and other judgements to hold that the provisions of the West Bengal Madrasah Service Commission Act, 2008, are not violative of the rights of the minority educational institutions on any count.