Catholics in India’s Kerala state have welcomed a court order that struck down a state government order that they claimed was unfair to Christians in distributing scholarship funds for students.

The top court in the southern state on May 28 suspended a 2015 government order after finding it favored Muslims in the distribution of merit-cum-means scholarships meant for religious minority communities.

“We are very happy about the order, which recognized our stand,” said Father Jacob Palackapilly, deputy secretary general of Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC) that has been campaigning against the order.

“We want the government to do justice to everyone equally and allocate the funds according to the ratio of population,” he told UCA News on May 29.

The state order allocated 80 percent of scholarship funds to Muslims while only 20 percent was allocated to Christians and other minorities such as Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs.

Church leaders quoted the state census to argue that the order violated proportional distribution of funding as Christians form 39 percent of the minority population in the state while Muslims constitute 60 percent.

The High Court in its order said the government providing the scholarship at an 80:20 ratio was “legally unsustainable.”

“The government order was totally discriminatory and it deprived many deserving Christians from the benefits of the scholarship scheme,” said Father Palackapilly.

Of the 33 million people in Kerala, 18.38 percent are Christians, while Muslims form 26.56 percent. The majority Hindus form 54 percent.

In terms of numbers, Christians (6 million) and Muslims (9.7 million) together form 15.7 million or 99.7 percent of religious minorities in the state.