Delhi HC Seeks Union Govt's Stand on Filling Vacancies in National Commission For Minorities

New Delhi: While hearing a plea seeking to fill the vacancies in the National Commission for Minorities, including the Commission’s chairperson, the Delhi high court has asked the Union government for its stand on the issue. A division bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela termed the issue “very very important” and asked the Union government’s counsel to obtain instructions on the vacant posts, reported LiveLaw.

The court was hearing a petition filed by one Mujahid Nafees, who claimed to be the Convenor of Minority Coordination Committee working on the welfare of the minorities across India.

Earlier, the counsel representing Nafees had said that the post of chairperson has been vacant since April 22.

As the counsel appearing for the Union government sought time to seek instructions in the matter, Justice Gedela orally said “Please make sure things start moving. Don’t wait for the next date. This is very very important.”

Nafees’s plea expresses concerns about the vacancy of chairperson, vice chairperson and members of the National Commission for Minorities. The matter will now be heard on November 14.

The plea states that there has been a complete and systematic incapacitation of the Commission owing to the Union government’s failure to appoint its chairperson, vice-chairperson and all five members.

“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,” says the plea. It states that the “series of demissions from office”, starting from November 2024 and culminating in the chairperson's departure in April 2025, has resulted in a scenario wherein the Commission, “for all practical purposes, has ceased to exist,” said the LiveLaw report.

“The Petitioner, representing an informal minority welfare organization, attempted to resolve the issue through a formal representation to the Respondent on 20.08.2025, but was met with silence. This petition is a final recourse, seeking a writ of mandamus to compel the Respondent to uphold its statutory duty, respect the will of Parliament, and restore the constitutionally guaranteed safeguards for minority communities by making immediate appointments to the NCM,” states the plea.

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