IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) TUESDAY, THE TWENTY FIRST DAY OF JULY TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT THE HON'BLE MS JUSTICE G.ROHINI WRIT PETITION NO : 13141 of 2009 Between: 1 Holy Trinity Educational Society, A-38, Road No.2, Filmnagar, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, Rep by its Secretary, Smt. A.V.S.Reddy. 2 Holy Mary Institute of Technology, Bogaram Village, Keesara Mandal, Ranga Reddy District. Rep by its Correspondent, Smt. A.V.S. Reddy. ..... PETITIONER(S) AND 1 The Government of Andhra Pradesh, Minorities Welfare Department, SEcretariat, Hyderabad. Rep by its Principal Secretary. 2 The Commissioenr of Technical Education, Andhra Pradesh, B.R.K.R. Bhavan, Hyderabad. .....RESPONDENT(S) Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court will be pleased to issue a direction order or writ more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus to declare the action of the respondents in rejecting the application of the 1st petitioner for grant of minority status certificate to the 2nd petitioner, vide its Letter No.E2/4383/2009, dated 15.06.2009, as arbitrary, illegal and contrary to Article 30(1) of the Constitution of India and set aside the same and issue a consequential direction to the respondents to certify the 2nd petitioner as a Christian minority educational institution for and from the academic year 2009- 2010. Counsel for the Petitioner : MR GADDAM SRINIVAS Counsel for the Respondents : GP FOR EDUCATION The Court made the following : THE HON’BLE Ms. JUSTICE G. ROHINI WRIT PETITION No.13141 OF 2009 ORDER : The 1st petitioner which is a society registered under the Andhra Pradesh (Telangana Area) Public Societies Registration Act, 1350 Fasli established the 2nd petitioner college in the year 2008. The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) vide proceedings dated 30.06.2008 granted approval to the 2nd petitioner college for imparting the study in the Engineering course. Subsequently, the Government of Andhra Pradesh vide G.O.Ms.No.105, Higher Education (EC.2) Department, dated 11.7.2008 granted permission for establishment of the 2nd petitioner college. The petitioners state that due to the delayed approval from AICTE, they could not apply for grant of minority status for the academic year 2008-09. Subsequently for the academic year 2009-10, the 1st petitioner submitted an application on 14.5.2009 requesting the 2nd respondent – Commissioner of Technical Education, A.P. - to grant minority status from the academic year 2009-10. The said application was rejected by the 2nd respondent by proceedings dated 15.6.2009 stating that it is not permissible to convert a non-minority institution into a minority institution. Aggrieved by the same, the present writ petition is filed. I have heard the learned counsel for the petitioner as well as the learned Government Pleader for Higher Education appearing for the respondents. It is to be noticed that G.O.Ms.No.1, Minorities Welfare (M&R) Dept., dated 16.1.2004, which is in the nature of guidelines, has been issued by the Government of A.P. regulating the issuance of minority status certificate to the institutions. The request of the 1st petitioner for grant of minority status to the 2nd petitioner college has to be considered in accordance with the said guidelines under G.O.Ms.No.1, dated 16.1.2004. Apparently, the 2nd respondent failed to follow the said procedure and rejected request of the petitioners on the ground that the conversion of non-minority institution into a minority institution is impermissible. Merely because the 2nd petitioner did not seek Minority Status Certificate for the academic year 2008-09, it cannot be treated as a non-minority institution. Therefore the rejection of the request of the petitioner merely on the said ground, without following the procedure prescribed under G.O.Ms.No.1, dated 16.1.2004 is arbitrary and illegal. In the circumstances, the impugned order dated 15.6.2009 is hereby set aside and the 2nd respondent is directed to consider the request of the petitioners afresh in terms of the guidelines under G.O.Ms.No.1, dated 16.1.2004 and pass appropriate orders in accordance with law as expeditiously as possible preferably within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of this order. No costs. Writ Petition is accordingly disposed of. No costs. ______________ G. ROHINI, J. Dt. 21.07.2009 Note:- CC in 2 days. (B/O) gbs