K.B.Asthana, J. - (1.) BY this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution the petitioner known as the Gandhi Faiz-e Am Degree College, Shahjahanpur, a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, questions the validity of the conditions put on it by the university of Agra for permitting and recognising the opening of B. T. and LL.B classes in the College.
(2.) IT is claimed that the petitioner is an institution owned, managed and run by the Muslim minority community which is in effective administration and control of it and that the conditions which the Agra University has laid down interfere with its fundamental rights conferred by Article 30 of the Constitution. The petitioner according to its Constitution, a copy of which is annexure 'A' to the petition, has the following bodies for carrying on its management and administration: (a) General Council. (b) Governing Body. (c) Managing Committee.
(3.) THE further rules of the Constitution indicate that it is the members of the Muslim community who alone could be the members of the above said three bodies. The General Council is the supreme body. The Governing Body is elected by the General Council and its functions are in the nature of an Executive Body. But it also elects a smaller body known as the Managing Committee who is to exercise the powers vested in the Governing Body. It is the Managing Committee which is concerned with the day to day administration of the petitioner. The Rules do not envisage any non Muslim as member of any of the above said Bodies and thus a non Muslim cannot be an office bearer as provided in the said Rules. The petitioner is, therefore, managed entirely by a body of persons drawn from the Muslim community. It is the admitted case of the petitioner that it was affiliated for some other degrees to the Agra University long before it applied for its affiliation for B. T. and LL.B. classes. It cannot be disputed, therefore, that the petitioner had already complied with the conditions of statute 14 when it agreed to affiliate itself with the Agra University for courses other than B.T. and LL.B. In 1963 the Agra University adopted a statute 14-A and added some more conditions for affiliation requiring the affiliated Colleges to have on their Governing Bodies, which term included the Managing Committees also, the Principal of the College and at least a representative of the teachers of the College to be appointed by rotation in order of seniority determined by length of service in the College who was to hold office for a certain fixed term. It appears that by a letter dated 12th August, 1964 the Principal of the petitioner applied to the Registrar, Agra University, for its affiliation for teaching of B. T. and LL.B. course and also for its affiliation in certain more new subjects for Bachelor of Arts degrees. While the University permitted the petitioner to open fresh subjects for Bachelor of Arts degrees it did not readily grant affiliation for the new courses i.e., for B.T- and LL. B. degrees. The petitioner, however, persisted in its request for its affiliation for B.T. and LL.B. The University authorities, however, asked the petitioner to comply with the conditions prescribed in the newly framed statute 14-A. The petitioner thereupon appears to have taken the stand that the petitioner was an institution run and managed by a minority community but the University authorities though recognising the minority nature of the petitioner wrongly persisted that conditions of statute 14-A be complied with before further affiliation for any new degree could be granted. At the same time, however, by a communication dated 22nd November. 1965 the President of the petitioner wrote to the Deputy Registrar, Agra University signifying the willingness of the Managing Committee of the petitioner to make the inclusion of the Principal and one Head of Department by rotation obligatory in the Governing Body as proposed and undertook to amend the Constitution suitably to Rive the proposal a practical shape within three months after receiving the reply from the University. A true copy of this letter is annexure 'G' to the counter-affidavit sworn by Sri Badri Prasad Jain, Private Secretary to the Vice Chancellor of the Agra University. Then an enquiry was made by the Deputy Registrar of the University from the President of the petitioner whether the necessary amendments in the Constitution of the Managing Committee had been made which was followed by another letter in December, 1965 from the Deputy Registrar to the President of the petitioner saving that unless the amendments were made recognition or affiliation for the new classes would not be possible. Finally the petitioner was informed by the University authorities by a communication dated 28th December, 1965 that affiliation for B.T. and LL.B. classes was not to be granted as the Vice Chancellor of the University had refused to entertain the application of the petitioner.;