The Supreme Court has held that the rights of religious or linguistic aided minority institutions in the administration of the institutions were absolute and, the State could not compel them to implement its reservation policy. A Bench of Justices B.S. Chauhan and Swatanter Kumar said: “Minority institutions have some kind of autonomy in their administration. This would entail the right to administer effectively and to manage and conduct the affairs of the institution.” Writing the judgment, Mr. Justice Swatanter Kumar said: “The State might not be well within its constitutional duty to compel minority institutions to accept a policy decision, enforcement of which would infringe their fundamental right and/or protection.”
The Bench said: “A linguistic minority institution [as in the present case] is entitled to the protection and right of equality enshrined in the provisions of the Constitution. The power is vested in the State to frame regulations … to ensure better organisation and development of school education and matters incidental thereto. Such power must operate within its limitation while ensuring that it does not in any way dilute or impair the basic character of linguistic minority.” It added: “To frame policy is the domain of the government. If, as a matter of policy, the government has decided to implement the reservation policy for uplift of the socially or otherwise backward classes, essentially it must do so within the framework of the Constitution and the laws.”