JUDGMENT :

Being apparently threatened by certain orders and actions of the Mahatma Gandhi University, which the petitioners fear would obliterate their constitutionally guaranteed rights under Article 30(1) of the Constitution of India, they have filed this writ petition.

2. The petitioners in these two cases -which have been heard together, adverting to the common pleadings and reliefs – are stated to be the registered Association of the Managements of Institutions of Higher Education, as also individual Colleges; and all of them assert that said Institutions/Colleges have been declared as Minority Educational Institutions, under Article 30(1) of the Constitution of India.

3. The petitioners say that though the Mahatma Gandhi University Act, 1985 (the “M.G. University Act” for short) contain two provisions, namely Sections 54 and 55, requiring all institutions to have a 'Governing Body' or a Managing Committee', they have never been implemented, as far as Minority Educational Institutions are concerned; and that this is crucial because such bodies, which have nominees of the University or the Government, would impinch the constitutionally protected right of self administration. They