The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Center to clarify its stand on a petition in which the issue of vacancies, including the post of chairperson, in the National Minorities Commission has been raised. The court called this an important issue. A bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela was informed that the post of Chairman of the National Minorities Commission has been vacant since April 22, when the tenure of the last officer ended.
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The counsel appearing for the Center urged the court to grant time to obtain instructions from the authorities. On this the bench said that please ensure that the cases move forward. Don’t wait for the next date. This is very important. The court was hearing a PIL filed by petitioner Mujahid Nafees, who claimed to be the convenor of the Minority Coordination Committee. The petition alleged that “the NCM has become completely and systematically inefficient due to the gross failure of the Government to appoint the Chairman, Vice-Chairman and all five members of the NCM.” The petition claimed that this negligence on the part of the executive has rendered an important statutory body constituted by an Act of Parliament for the protection and welfare of the Scheduled Minority Communities of India completely defunct and leaderless.
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The petition has sought a direction to the Center through the Ministry of Minority Affairs to immediately initiate and complete the process of appointment of the Chairman, Vice Chairman and five members of the NCM as per the National Minorities Commission Act. The petition also sought to complete the appointment process in a transparent and time bound manner preferably within four weeks from the date of the court order.