On Friday (October 23), the Tamil Nadu government informed the Madras High Court that only Hindu staff can be recruited in educational institutions that are fully financed by Hindu temples, reported The Times of India. The development comes after a writ petition was filed in the Court by a 37-year-old Muslim man A. Suhail challenging the appointment of only Hindus to teaching as well as non-teaching posts at the Arulmigu Kapaleeswarar Arts and Science College in Chennai.
While arguing the case before the Madras High Court, the State advocate general R Shunmugasundaram clarified that the recruitment of non-Hindus in educational institutions run by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department was prohibited under the HR&CE Act. Justice C Saravanan had accepted the petition of Suhail and directed the Tamil Nadu government to file a counter to his petition. Suhail had alleged that he was not allowed for a walk-in interview for the post of office assistant.
In his petition, he argued, “It is a Constitutional mandate that a state cannot discriminate on the ground of religion…The term specific endowment will not include an educational institution where no religious instruction can be taught to the students. It is clear from the preamble to the Constitution that the state is secular and it cannot choose any religion and undertake to spread the ideologies of the particular religion.” Suhail had claimed that the mandate of the HR&CE Act applied only to temples or Departments involving the affairs of the religion and was not applicable to the post of office assistant of an educational institute.
‘Hindu’ is just a way of life so Muslims and Christians should not be stopped from getting Hindu-only jobs: Petitioner
The petitioner cited the remarks made by the Supreme Court on what constituted being a Hindu. He said the top court had said the word ‘Hindu’ did not denote any religion but a way of life. Pointing out this line of argument by the apex court, the litigant questioned on what basis the respondent authorities could decide the candidate as a Hindu.
Therefore, Suhail stated that the HR & CE Department could not prevent Indian Muslims or Christians or any others from applying and getting selected for various posts at the said college. He also stated that religious institution as defined in section 6(18) of the HR& CE Act meant only Math or Temples or specific endowment which included institutions maintained for a religious purpose. The petitioner further alleged that he could not approach the court before the conduct of the interview since the court was closed for Dussehra vacation.
