(Picture used for representational purpose)

BENGALURU: The high court on Wednesday dismissed a petition filed by Kanachur Islamic Education Trust, Mangaluru, which had sought allotment of only Sunni Muslim students to their institution for MBBS course under the management quota.

A division bench comprising Justice AS Bopanna and Justice Mohammed Nawaz observed that if such requests are allowed in other religious and linguistic minority institutions, the entire process of admission would be affected. The right of a meritorious candidate belonging to Muslim community who opts for the petitioner college cannot be denied just because he/she doesn’t belong to Sunni sect, it noted.

The court pointed out that the certificate issued in September 2015 by the National Minority Commission stated that Kanachur College of Medical Sciences is a Muslim minority institution and even the undertaking in consensual agreement states that not less than 66% seats be filled by minority community students.

The trust, which runs Kanachur Institute of Medical Sciences in Mangaluru, had challenged the July 4, 2018 decision of the department of medical education, rejecting its plea to admit only Sunni Muslim students.

According to the trust, it’s not only a declared religious minority institution, but also an institution managed by Sunni Muslims and has every right to choose its students. The trust had written to the government in May for making mandatory religion certificate issued by the government along with a certificate issued by Sunni Jam Iyyathul Ulama, Mangaluru, for admission to management quota seats. The college has an intake of 150 students of which 25% come under the government quota.

