(Promulgated by the President
in the Fifty-fifth Year of the Republic of India)
An Ordinance
to constitute a National Commission for Minority Educational
Institutions and to provide for matters connected therewith
or incidental thereto
1. Promulgated by the President on November 11, 2004 and
published in the Gazette of India, Extra., Part II, Section
1, dated 11th November, 2004, pp.1-7, No.35
NATIONAL
COMMISSION FOR MINORITY EDUCATIONAL
INSTITUTIONS ORDINANCE, 2004
Whereas Parliament
is not in session and the President is satisfied that
circumstances exist which render it necessary for him
to take immediate action;
Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by
clause (1) of Article 123 of the Constitution, the President
is pleased to promulgate the following Ordinance :-
CHAPTER
I
PRELIMINARY
1.
Short title, extent and commencement.-
(1) This Ordinance may be called
the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions
Ordinance, 2004.
(2) It extends to the whole of India except the State
of Jammu and Kashmir.
(3) It shall come into force at once.
2. Definitions.- In this Ordinance,
unless the context otherwise requires, -
(a) “affiliation” together
with its grammatical variations, includes, in relation
to a college, recognition of such college by, association
of such college with, and admission of such college to
the privileges of, a Scheduled University;
(b) “college” means a college or teaching
institution (other than a University) established or maintained
by a person or group of persons from amongst a minority
community ;
(c) “Commission” means the National Commission
for Minority Educational Institutions constituted under
Section 3;
(d) “degree” means any such degree as may,
with previous approval of the Central Government, be specified
in this behalf by the University Grants Commission, by
notification in the Official Gazette;
(e) “Member” means a member of the Commission
and includes the Chairperson;
(f) “minority”, for the purpose of this Ordinance,
means a community notified as such by the Central Government;
(g) “Minority Educational Institution” means
a college or institution (other than a University) established
or maintained by a person or group of persons from amongst
the minorities;
(h) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules
made under this Ordinance;
(i) “qualification” means a degree or any
other qualification awarded by a University;
(j) “Scheduled University” means a University
specified in the Schedule;
(k) “technical education” has the meaning
assigned to it in clause (g) of Section 2 of the University
Grants Commission Act, 1956 (3 of 1956), and includes
an institution deemed to be a University under Section
3 of that Act, or an institution specifically empowered
by an Act of Parliament to confer or grant degrees..
CHAPTER
II
THE NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR MINORITY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
3.
Constitution of National Commission for Minority Educational
Institutions.-
(1) The Central
Government shall, by notification in the Official Gazette,
constitute a body to be known as the National Commission
for Minority Educational Institutions to exercise the
powers conferred on, and to perform the functions assigned
to it, under this Ordinance.
(2) The Commission shall consist of a Chairperson and
two members to be nominated by the Central Government.
CENTRAL
ACTS AND ORDINANCES
5.
Term of office and conditions of service of Chairperson
and Members.-
(1) Every Member shall hold office
for a term of five years from the date on which he assumes
office.
(2) A Member may, by writing under his hand addressed
to the Central Government, rising from the office of Chairperson
or, as the case may be, of Member at any time.
(3) The Central Government shall remove a person from
the office of Member if that person-
(a)
becomes an undischarged insolvent;
(b) is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for and
offence which, in the opinion of the Central Government,
involves moral turpitude;
(c) becomes of unsound mind and stands so declared by
a competent court;
(d) refuses to act or becomes incapable of acting;
(e) is, without obtaining leave of absence from the commission,
absent from three consecutive meetings of the commission;
or
(f) in the opinion of the Central government, has so abused
the position of chairperson or Member as to render that
person’s continuance in office detrimental to the
public interest : Provided that no person shall be removed
under this clause until that person has been given an
opportunity of being heard in the matter.
(4)
A vacancy caused under sub-section (2) or otherwise shall
be filled by fresh nomination and a person as nominated
shall hold office for the unexpired period of the term
for which his predecessor in office would have held office
if such vacancy had not arisen.
(5) The salaries and allowances payable to, and the other
terms and conditions of service of, the Chairperson and
Members shall be such as may be prescribed.
6.
Officers and other employees of commission. –
(1) the Central Government shall
provide the Commission with a Secretary and such other
officers and employees as may be necessary for the efficient
performance of the functions of the commission under this
Ordinance.
(2)
The salaries and allowances payable to, and the other
terms and conditions of service of, the Secretary, officers
and other employees appointed for the purpose of the Commission
shall be such as may e prescribed.
7.
salaries and allowances to be paid out of grants._ The
salaries and allowances payable to the Chairperson-and
members and the administrative expenses, including salaries,
NATIONAL
COMMISSION FOR MINORITY EDUCATIONAL
INSTITUTIONS ORDINANCE, 2004
allowances
and pensions payable to the Secretary, officers and other
employees referred to in Section 6, shall be paid out
of the grants referred to in sub-section (1) of Section
14.
8. Vacancies, etc., not to invalidate proceedings of commission.
– No act or proceeding of the Commission shall be
questioned or shall be invalid on the ground merely of
the existence of any vacancy or defect in the constitution
of the Commission.
9. Procedure to be regulated by Commission.
(1) The Commission shall meet as
and when necessary at such time and place as the Chairperson
may think fit.
(2) The commission shall regulate its own procedure.
(3) All orders and decisions of the Commission shall be
authenticated by the Secretary or any other officer of
the Commission duly authorized by the Secretary in this
behalf.
CHAPTER
III
RIGHT OF A MINORITY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION
10. Right
of a Minority Educational Institution to seek affiliation
to a Scheduled University. – Notwithstanding anything
contained in any other law for the time being in force,
a Minority, Educational Institution may seek recognition
as an affiliated college of a Scheduled University of
its choice.
CHAPTER
IV
FUNCTIONS AND POWERS OF THE COMMISSION
11.
Functions of the Commission – Notwithstanding anything
contained in any other law for the time being in force,
the commission shall
(a) advice the Central Government
or any State Government on any question relating to the
education of minorities that may be referred to it;
(b) look into specific complaints regarding deprivation
or violation of rights of minorities to establish and
administer educational institutions of their choice and
any dispute relating affiliation to a Scheduled University
and report its findings to the Central Government for
its implementation; and
(c) to 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.
12. Powers of Commission.-
(1) If any dispute arises between
a minority educational institution and a Scheduled University
relating to its affiliation to such University, the decision
of the Commission thereon shall be final.
(2) The Commission shall, for the purposes of discharging
its functions under this Ordinance, Have all the Powers
of a civil court while trying a suit and in particular,
in respect of the following matters, namely:-
(a) summoning and enforcing the
attendance of any person from any part of India and examining
him on oath;
(b) requiring the discovery and production of any document;
(c) receiving evidence on affidavits;
(d) subject to the provisions of Sections 123 and 124
of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (1 of 1872) requisitioning
any public record or document or copy of such record or
document form any office;
(e) issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses
or documents; and
(f) any other matter which may be prescribed.
CENTRAL
ACTS AND ORDINANCE
13. Financial
and administrative powers of the Chairperson.- The Chairperson
shall exercise such financial and administrative powers
as may be vested in him by the rules made under this section:
Provided that the Chairperson shall have authority to
delegate such of the financial and administrative powers
as he may think fit to any Member or Secretary or any
other officer of the Commission subject to the condition
that such Member or Secretary or officer shall, while
exercising such delegated powers, continue to act under
the direction, control and supervision of the Chairperson.
CHAPTER
V
FINANCE, ACCOUNTS AND AUDIT
14.
Grants by the Central Government.-
(1) The Central Government shall,
after due appropriation made by Parliament by law in this
behalf, pay to the Commission by way of grants such sums
of money as the Central Government may think fit for being
utilized for the purposes of this Ordinance.
(2) The Commission may spend such sums of money as it
thinks fit for performing the functions under this Ordinance,
and such sums shall be treated as expenditure payable
out of the grants referred to in sub-section (1)
15. Accounts and audit.-
(1) The Commission shall maintain
proper accounts and other relevant records and prepare
an annual statement of accounts in such form as may be
prescribed by the Central Government in consultation with
the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India.
(2) The accounts of the Commission shall be audited by
the Comptroller and Auditor-General at such intervals
as may be specified by him and any expenditure incurred
in connection with such audit shall be payable by the
Commission to the Comptroller and Auditor-General.
(3) The Comptroller and Auditor-General and any person
appointed by him in connection with the audit of the accounts
of the Commission under this Ordinance shall have the
same rights and privileges and the authority in connection
with such audit as the Comptroller and Auditor-General
generally has in connection with the audit of Government
accounts and, in particular, shall have the right to demand
the production of books, accounts, accounts and, in particular,
shall have the right to demand the production of books,
accounts, connected vouchers and other documents and papers
and to inspect any of the offices of the Commission.
16. Annual report.- The Commission
shall prepare, in such form and at such time, for each
financial year, as may be prescribed, its annual report,
giving a full account of its activities during the previous
financial year and forward a copy thereof to the Central
Government.
17. Annual report and audit report to be laid before Parliament._
The Central Government shall cause the annual report,
together with a memorandum of action taken on the advice
tendered by the Commission under Section 11 and the reasons
for the non-acceptance, if any, of any such advice, and
the audit report to be laid as soon as may be after they
are received before each House of Parliament.
CHAPTER
VI
MISCELLANEOUS
18. Power
to amend Schedule.- The Central Government if deems fit
may, by notification in the Official Gazette, add any
other University to the Schedule or omit any University
therefrom.
NATIONAL
COMMISSION FOR MINORITY EDUCATIONAL
INSTITUTIONS ORDINANCE, 2004
19.
Chairperson, Members, Secretary, employees, etc. of the
Commission to be public servants.- The Chairperson, Members,
the Secretary, officers and other employees of the commission
shall be deemed to be public servants within the meaning
of Section 21 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860)
20. Directions by the Central Government.-
(1) In the discharge of its functions
under this Ordinance, the Commission shall be guided by
such direction on questions of policy relating to national
purposes, as may be given to it by the Central Government.
(2) If any dispute arises between the Central Government
and the Commission as to whether a question is or is not
a question of policy relating to national purposes, the
decision of the Central Government shall Government shall
be final.
21. Protection against action taken
in good faith.- No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding
shall lie against the Central Government, Commission,
Chairperson, Members, Secretary or any officer or other
ernployee of the Commission for anything which is in good
faith done or intended to be done under this Ordinance.
22. Ordinance to hove overriding effect- The provisions
of this Ordinance shall have effect notwithstanding anything
inconsistent therewith contained in any other law for
the time being in force or in any instrument having effect
by virtue of any law other than this Ordinance.
23. Returns or information.- The Commission shall furnish
to the Central Government such returns or other information
with respect to its activities as the Central Government
may, from time to time, require.
24. Power to make rules.-
(1) The Central Government
may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules
for carrying out the provisions of this Ordinance.
(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality
of the foregoing powers, such rules may provide for all
or any of the following matters, namely :-
(a) Salaries and allowances
payable to, and the other terms and conditions of the
service of, the Chairperson and Members under sub-section
(5) of Section 5 and of the Secretary, officers and other
employees under sub-section(2) of Section ;
(b) The financial and administrative powers to be exercised
by the Chairperson under Section 13;
(c) The form in which the annual statement of accounts
shall be prepared under subsection (1) of Section 15;
(d) The form in, and the time at, which the annual report
shall be prepared under Section 16;
(e) Any other matter which is required to be, or may be,
prescribed.
(3) Every rule made under this Ordinance
shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before
each House of Parliament, while it is in session, for
a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in
one session or in two or more successive sessions, and
if, before the expiry of the session immediately following
the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both
Houses agree in making any modification in the rule or
both House agree that the rule should not be made, the
rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified
form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however,
that any such modification or annulment shall be without
prejudice to the validity or anything previously done
under that rule.
25. Power to remove difficulties.-
(1) If any difficulty arises in
giving effect to the provisions of this Ordinance, the
Central Government may, by order published in the Official
Gazette, make such provisions not inconsistent with the
provisions of this Ordinance, as appear to it to be necessary
or expedient, for removing the difficulty :
(2) Every order made under this section shall, as soon
as may be after it is made, be laid efore each House of
Parliament.
