Judgment

P. JAGANMOHAN REDDY, J. - These are fourteen Writ Petitions by various Colleges managed and administrated by Dayanand Anglo Vedic College (D. A. V. College) Trust and the Managing Society, against the Respondents challenging the Constitutional validity of certain provisions of Guru Nanak University, Amritsar, Act 21 of 1969 (hereinafter called the University or the Act , as the context may permit) and in particular Sections 4, 4 (2). 4 (3) and 5 of the Act as being violative of Articles 14, 19 (1) (c) and (f), 26, 29 (1) and 30 (1) of the Constitution of India. There was also a prayer for quashing the Notification No. 2201-4-RDI-70/7147, dated 16th March, 1970 issued under sub-section (i) of Section 5, by the first Respondent, the State of Punjab as being illegal, unconstitutional and void. As all these petitions raised a common question as to the validity of the provisions of the Act the Notification issued by the Government pursuant to that Act and certain provisions of the statutes made thereunder it would be sufficient if facts in Writ Petition No. 256 are set out.

2. The Managing Committee of the D. A. V. College is composed of 24 members and manages a score of other D. A. V. Institutions established in the Country. The D. A. V. College Trust and the Managing Society was formed to perpetuate the memory of Swami Dayanand Saraswati who was the founder of an organisation known as Arya Samaj, which organisation it is claimed has a fixed religious programme and its constitution is designed to perpetuate the religious teaching and philosophy of its founder. The Arya Samaj it is stated has its own phiosophy, conception of God worship, religious tenets, rituals, social work, educational work etc, as would appear from the Constitution of the Arya Samaj. It is therefore claimed that it being a religious sect and denomination, is a minority within the meaning of Art. 30 (1) of the Constitution. These Schools and Colleges were established on the lines, teachings and principles of Arya Samaj, in which the imparting of the vedic culture and religious instructions and worship based on the concept of Vedas, was and has its essential ingredient.

3. The Institutions which have filed the Writ Petitions were before the Punjab Reorganisation Act (hereinafter called the Reorganisation Act ) affiliated to the Punjab University constituted under the East Punjab Act 7 of 1947 (hereinafter called the Punjab University or the Punjab University Act as the context admits). Before the partition of India some of these Institutions were affiliated to the Punjab University, Lahore. After the partition other Universities were set up in Punjab State like the Punjab University, the Kurukshetra University, the Agricultural University etc. each of which had its own territorial jurisdiction.

4. There being a strong movement in the State Punjab by the Sikhs to have a State of their own and others who did not want it, the Government of India being faced with this problem ultimately decided to reorganise the State of Punjab on linguistic basis. A Boundary Commission was appointed under the Chairmanship of Shah, J. as he then was, and on the basis of that report Parliament ultimately passed the Reorganisation Act by and under which the State of Punjab and the State of Haryana were formed and certain other territories were added to Himachal Pradesh. Chandigarh, the erstwhile Capital was to be a Union territory and was to served Capital of both these States. A provision was made in this Act for the continuance of certain Corporations and institutions which had served the needs of the people of both areas to continue as heretofore subject to the special provisions enacted in the Act. Three of such institutions were the Punjab University, the Punjab Agricultural University and the Board constituted under the provisions of Part III of Sikh Gurdwaras Act 1925. The continuance of the aforementioned two Universities was dealt along with other statutory Corpo