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NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR MINORITY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS (AMENDMENT) ACT 2006

THE NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR MINORITY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
(AMENDMENT) ACT, 2006
NO. 18 OF 2006
[28th March, 2006.]
An Act to amend the National Commission for Minority Educational
Institutions Act, 2004.
BE it
enacted by Parliament in the Fifty-seventh Year of the Republic
of India as follows:-
1.
Short title and commencement.
1. Short title
and commencement.-(1) This Act may be called the
National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (Amendment)
Act, 2006.
(2) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 23rd day of
January, 2006.
2.
Amendment of section 2.
2. Amendment of section
2.-In section 2 of the National Commission
for Minority Educational Institutions Act, 2004 (2 of 2005)
(hereinafter referred to as
the principal Act),-
(i) in clause (a), the word "Scheduled" shall be omitted;
(ii) after clause (a), the following clause shall
be inserted,
namely:-
'(aa) "appropriate Government" means,-
(i) in relation to an educational institution recognised for
conducting
its programmes of studies under any Act of Parliament, the
Central Government; and
(ii) in relation to any other educational institution
recognised for
conducting its programmes of studies under any State Act, a State
Government in whose jurisdiction such institution
is established;';
(iii) after clause (c), the following clause shall be inserted,
namely:-
'(ca) "Competent authority" means the
authority appointed by the
appropriate Government to grant no objection certificate for the
establishment of any educational institution
of their choice by the
minorities;';
(iv) after clause (d), the following clause shall be inserted,
namely:-
'(da) "educational rights
of minorities" means the rights of
minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of
their choice;';
(v) clause
(j) shall be omitted.
3.
Substitution of new Chapter for Chapter III.
3. Substitution of new Chapter for Chapter III..-For Chapter
III of
the principal Act, the following Chapter shall be substituted,
namely:-
'CHAPTER III
RIGHTS OF A MINORITY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION
10. Right to establish a Minority Educational Institution.-(1) Any
person who desires to establish a Minority Educational Institution
may apply to the Competent authority for the grant of no objection
certificate for the said purpose.
(2) The Competent authority
shall,-
(a) on perusal of documents, affidavits or other evidence, if any;
and
(b) after giving an opportunity of being heard to
the applicant,
decide every application filed under sub-section (1) as expeditiously
as possible and grant or reject the application,
as the case may be:
Provided that where an application is rejected, the Competent
authority shall communicate the same to the applicant.
(3) Where within a period of ninety days from the receipt of the
application under sub-section (1) for the grant of no objection
certificate,-
(a) the Competent authority does not grant such certificate; or
(b) where an application has been rejected and the
same has not been
communicated to the person who has applied for the grant of such
certificate,
it shall be deemed that the Competent
authority has granted a no
objection certificate to the applicant.
(4) The applicant shall, on the grant of a no objection certificate
or where the Competent authority has deemed to have granted the no
objection certificate, be entitled to commence and proceed with
the
establishment of a Minority Educational Institution in accordance
with the rules and regulations, as the case may be, laid down
by or
under any law for the time being in force.
Explanation.- For the purposes of this section,-
(a) "applicant" means any person
who makes an application under sub-
section (1) for establishment of a Minority Educational Institution;
(b) "no objection certificate"
means a certificate stating therein,
that the Competent authority has no objection for the establishment
of a Minority Educational
Institution.
10A. Right of a Minority Educational Institution to seek
affiliation.-(1) A Minority Educational Institution may seek
affiliation to any University of its choice subject to such
affiliation being permissible within the Act under which the said
University is established.
(2) Any
person who is authorised in this behalf by the Minority
Educational Institution, may file an application for affiliation
under sub-section
(1) to a University in the manner prescribed by the
Statute, Ordinance, rules or regulations, of the University:
Provided that such
authorised person shall have right to know the
status of such application after the expiry of sixty days from the
date of filing
of such application.'.
4.
Amendment of section 11.
4. Amendment of section 11.-In section 11 of the principal Act, for
clauses (b)
and (c), the following clauses shall be substituted,
namely:-
"(b) enquire, suo motu, or on a petition presented to it by any
Minority
Educational Institution, or any person on its behalf into
complaints regarding deprivation or violation of rights of minorities
to
establish and administer educational institutions of their choice
and any dispute relating to affiliation to a University and report
its finding to the appropriate Government for its implementation;
(c) intervene in any proceeding involving any deprivation or
violation
of the educational rights of the minorities before a court
with the leave of such court;
(d) review the safeguards provided by or
under the Constitution, or
any law for the time being in force, for the protection of
educational rights of the minorities and recommend
measures for their
effective implementation;
(e) specify measures to promote and preserve the minority status and
character of institutions
of their choice established by minorities;
(f) decide all questions relating to the status of any institution as
a Minority Educational
Institution and declare its status as such;
(g) make recommendations to the appropriate Government for the
effective, implementation
of programmes and schemes relating to the
Minority Educational Institutions; and
(h) do such other acts and things as may be necessary,
incidental or
conducive to the attainment of all or any of the objects of the
Commission.".
5.
Amendment of section 12.
5. Amendment
of section 12.-In section 12 of the principal Act,-
(a) in sub-section (1), the word "Scheduled" shall be omitted;
(b) after sub-section
(2), the following sub-section shall be
inserted, namely:-
"(3) Every proceeding before the Commission shall be deemed to be a
judicial
proceeding within the meaning of sections 193 and 228, and
for the purposes of section 196, of the Indian Penal Code (45 of
1860)
and the Commission shall be deemed to be a civil court for the
purposes of section 195 and Chapter XXVI of the Code of Criminal
Procedure,
1973 (2 of 1974).".
6.
Insertion of new sections 12A to 12F.
6. Insertion of new sections 12A to 12F.-After section 12 of the
principal
Act, the following sections shall be inserted, namely:-
'12A. Appeal against orders of the Competent authority.-(I) Any
person aggrieved
by the order of refusal to grant no objection
certificate under sub-section (2) of section 10 by the Competent
authority for establishing
a Minority Educational Institution, may
prefer an appeal against such order to the Commission.
(2) An appeal under sub-section (I)
shall be filed within thirty days
from the date of the order referred to in sub-section (I)
communicated to the applicant:
Provided
that the Commission may entertain an appeal after the expiry
of the said period of thirty days, if it is satisfied that there was
sufficient cause for not filing it within that period.
(3) An appeal to the Commission shall be made in such form as may be
prescribed
and shall be accompanied by a copy of the order against
which the appeal has been filed.
(4) The Commission, after hearing the parties,
shall pass an order as
soon as may be practicable, and give such directions as may be
necessary or expedient to give effect to its
orders or to prevent
abuse of its process or to secure the ends of justice.
(5) An order made by the Commission under sub-section (4) shall be
executable by the Commission as a decree of a civil court and the
provisions of the Code of
Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), so far
as may be, shall apply as they apply in respect of a decree of a
civil court.
12B. Power
of Commission to decide on the minority status of an
educational institution.-(1) Without prejudice to the provisions
contained in
the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992 (19 of
1992), where an authority established by the Central Government or
any State
Government, as the case may be, for grant of minority
status to any educational institution rejects the application for the
grant
of such status, the aggrieved person may appeal against such
order of the authority to the Commission.
(2) An appeal under sub-section
(1) shall be preferred within thirty
days from the date of the order communicated to the applicant:
Provided that the Commission
may entertain an appeal after the expiry
of the said period of thirty days, if it is satisfied that there was
sufficient cause for
not filing it within that period.
(3) An appeal to the Commission shall be made in such form as may be
prescribed and shall be accompanied
by a copy of the order against
which the appeal has been filed.
(4) On receipt of the appeal under sub-section (3), the Commission
may, after giving the parties to the appeal an opportunity of being
heard, and in consultation with the State Government, decide
on the
minority status of the educational institution and shall proceed to
give such directions as it may deem fit and, all such
directions
shall be binding on the parties.
Explanation.-For the purposes of this section and section 12C,
"authority" means any
authority or officer or commission which is
established under any law for the time being in force or under any
order of the appropriate
Government, for the purpose of granting a
certificate of minority status to an educational institution.
12C. Power to cancel.-The
Commission may, after giving a reasonable
opportunity of being heard to a Minority Educational Institution to
which minority status
has been granted by an authority or Commission,
as the case may be, cancel such status under the following
circumstances, namely:-
(a) if the constitution, aims and objects of the educational
institution, which has enabled it to obtain minority status has
subsequently
been amended in such a way that it no longer reflects
the purpose or character of a Minority Educational Institution;
(b) if, on
verification of the records during the inspection or
investigation, it is found that the Minority Educational Institution
has failed
to admit students belonging to the minority community in
the institution as per rules and prescribed percentage governing
admissions
during any academic year.
12D. Power of Commission to investigate matters relating to
deprivation of educational rights of minorities.-(1)
The Commission
shall have the power to investigate into the complaints relating to
deprivation of the educational rights of minorities.
(2) The Commission may, for the purpose of conducting any
investigation pertaining to a complaint under this Act, utilise the
services
of any officer of the Central Government or any State
Government with the concurrence of the Central Government or the
State Government,
as the case may be.
(3) For the purpose of investigation under sub-section (1), the
officer whose services are utilised may, subject
to the direction and
control of the Commission,-
(a) summon and enforce the attendance of any person and examine him;
(b) require
the discovery and production of any document; and
(c) requisition any public record or copy thereof from any office.
(4) The officer
whose services are utilised under sub-section (2)
shall investigate into any matter entrusted to it by the Commission
and submit
a report thereon to it within such period as may be
specified by the Commission in this behalf.
(5) The Commission shall satisfy
itself about the correctness of the
facts stated and the conclusion, if any, arrived at in the report
submitted to it under sub-section (4) and for this purpose
the
Commission may make such further inquiry as it may think fit.
12E. Power of Commission to call for information, etc.-(1) The
Commission, while enquiring into the complaints of violation or
deprivation of educational rights of minorities shall call for
information
or report from the Central Government or any State
Government or any other authority or organisation subordinate
thereto, within
such time as may be specified by it:
Provided that,-
(a) if the information or report is not received within the time
stipulated
by the Commission, it may proceed to inquire into the
complaint;
(b) if, on receipt of information or report, the Commission is
satisfied
either that no further inquiry is required, or that the
required action has been initiated or taken by the concerned
Government or
authority, it may not proceed with the complaint and
inform the complainant accordingly.
(2) Where the inquiry establishes violation
or deprivation of the
educational rights of the minorities by a public servant, the
Commission may recommend to the concerned Government
or authority,
the initiation of disciplinary proceedings or such other action
against the concerned person or persons as may be deemed
fit.
(3) The Commission shall send a copy of the inquiry report, together
with its recommendations to the concerned Government or
authority and
the concerned Government or authority shall, within a period of one
month, or such further time as the Commission may
allow, forward its
comments on the report, including the action taken, or proposed to be
taken thereon, to the Commission.
(4) The
Commission shall publish its inquiry report and the action
taken or proposed to be taken by the concerned Government or
authority
on the recommen- dations of the Commission.
12F. Bar of jurisdiction.-No court (except the Supreme Court and a
High Court exercising
jurisdiction under articles 226 and 227 of the
Constitution) shall entertain any suit, application or other
proceedings in respect
of any order made under this Chapter.'.
7.
Omission of section 18.
7. Omission of section 18.-Section 18 of the principal Act shall
be
omitted.
8.
Amendment of section 24.
8. Amendment of section 24.-In section 24 of the principal Act, in
sub-section (2), after
clause (a), the following clause shall be
inserted, namely:-
"(aa) the forms in which appeal under sub-section (3) of section 12A
and sub- section (3) of section 12B shall be made;".
9.
Omisson of Schedule.
9. Omission of Schedule.-The Schedule to the principal
Act shall be
omitted.
10.
Repeal of Ordinance 1 of 2006 and saving.
10. Repeal of Ordinance 1 of 2006 and saving.-(1) The National
Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (Amendment)
Ordinance, 2006, is hereby repealed.
(2) Notwithstanding such repeal,
anything done or any action taken
under the principal Act, as amended by the said Ordinance, shall be
deemed to have been done or
taken under the principal Act, as amended
by this Act.
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T. K. VISWANATHAN,
Secy. to the Govt. of India.
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