Sikhs not a minority in Punjab, rules HC

Striking down Punjab government notifications that reserved 50 per cent of seats for Sikhs in educational institutions...

Striking down Punjab government notifications that reserved 50 per cent of seats for Sikhs in educational institutions run by the community and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the Punjab and Haryana High Court today ruled that Sikhs were not a minority in the state.

Declaring the notifications as “void”, a division bench headed by Justice A K Goel said: “Question is whether there is any iota of material justifying that in Punjab, Sikhs in general were such a group who deserved protection from deprivation of their rights by other communities. The answer clearly is in the negative. There is nothing to show from the written statement filed by Punjab to prove the same”.

SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar said it would challenge the ruling in the Supreme Court.

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The orders were passed on a petition by Sangrur student Sahil Mittal who moved the High Court against the SGPC, the State of Punjab and Baba Farid University.

Mittal, who cleared his Plus Two examination this year, failed to secure admission. He said reservation of 50 per cent of the seats for Sikhs had affected his selection chances. He challenged the April 13, 2001 notification which declared Sikh educational institutions in Punjab as minority institutions, permitting them to reserve 50 per cent seats for Sikhs.

Pointing out that Sikhs were a majority in Punjab, Mittal’s counsel took the stand that if declaration of Sikhs as a minority was declared void, his client had every chance of getting admission on his own merit.

The state, while arguing against the petition, said: “On account of influx of persons of different religions from other states into Punjab, Sikhs are in a minority.”

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Sikhs constitute 59.9 per cent of the state population while the Hindus, according to the 2001 census, make 37 per cent.

Some 30 professional and degree colleges being run by the SGPC in the state stand to be affected by the ruling.

The bench observed that “secularism and equality are basic features, particularly in professional education, and additional protection for minorities which may allow admissions to professional colleges only to students belonging to a minority by ignoring the entire merit available, cannot be conferred unless there is substantial merit. The notifications are clearly ultra vires…(and) are declared void.”