1. The petitioner is the Principal of the MSS Wakf Board College, Madurai. The petitioner has challenged the order of suspension dated 27-09-2003 on the ground that any suspension which exceeds the period of two months is bad in view of Section 19(3) of the Tamil Nadu Private Colleges Regulation Act (“Act” in short) and he should be restored to service. An ex parte order of stay was granted and the College filed two petitions to vacate the stay and to suspend the ex parte order. When the interim petitions came up, by consent, the main writ petition itself was taken up for final disposal.

2. The learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that the first respondent is a minority college. While certain provisions of the Act do not apply to the first respondent by virtue of Section 24 in Association of University Teachers v. State of Tamil Nadu (1991 I L.W. 180, the Division Bench of this Court held that Section 24(3) insofar as it excludes the application of Section 19(3)(a) and (b) of the Act to a minority college is ultra vires of Article 14 of the Constitution. Therefore, Section 19(3)(a) and (b) apply to the respondent college, though it is a minority institution It