Delhi HC Asks Centre to File ‘Better Affidavit’ on Filling Vacancies in National Commission For Minorities
New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Friday (February 6), while hearing a plea seeking to fill the vacancies in the National Commission for Minorities (NCM), has asked the Union government to submit a “better affidavit”.
A bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia said that the previous status report filed by the under secretary of the Ministry of Minority Affairs was “absolutely bald and vague” and does not provide any details of the progress of appointments.
“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 reported 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,” it ordered.
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.
The petition has alleged that the failure to appoint its chairperson, vice-chairperson and all five members points to executive dereliction.
The court order on Friday comes days after the court on January 30 expressed concern over the vacancies in the body. The bench had observed that the commission is a statutory body, which remained without any chairperson or 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,” 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.”.
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