DEVINDER GUPTA, C. J. ( 1 ) THESE writ petitions are being disposed of by common order since common questions have arisen though reliefs sought for are different. ( 2 ) IN W. P. No. 19410 of 2003, colleges of Education Management association, Hyderabad has sought direction against respondents to permit the management of the Colleges of Education to fill up 50% of the seats by following the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court in islamic Academy of Education v. State of karnataka, 2003 (6) SCC 697 , and to permit the Managements of the Colleges of education to fix their own fee structure subject to approval/modification by a committee to be constituted in accordance with the directions of the Supreme Court issued in the case of Islamic Academy of education v. State of Karnataka (supra ). Another prayer made in the writ petition is to direct the respondents to forthwith constitute a Committee for scrutinising and verification of fee structure and another committee for verifying the admission procedure in accordance with the directions of the Supreme Court in the aforesaid case. ( 3 ) WRIT Petition No. 21689 of 2003 has been filed by the Colleges of Education management Association, Hyderabad seeking direction to declare G. O. Rt. No. 1038, education (SE-TRG. I) Department, dated 10. 10. 2003 issued by the State as illegal, arbitrary, unconstitutional and contrary to law declared by the Supreme Court in T. M. A. Pai Foundation v. State of Karnataka, 2002 (8) SCC 482 and Islamic Academy s case and to set aside the same and pass such further orders as may be deemed fit and proper. ( 4 ) SIMILAR prayer has been made in w. P. No. 21690 of 2003 by Association of management of Minority Colleges of education. ( 5 ) COLLEGES of Education Management association is a Society registered under a. P. (Telangana Area) Public Societies registration Act, 1350 Fasli. It s members are running Colleges of Education duly approved by the Government of Andhra pradesh and recognised by National Council of Technical Education (NCTE ). ( 5 ) COLLEGES of Education Management association is a Society registered under a. P. (Telangana Area) Public Societies registration Act, 1350 Fasli. It s members are running Colleges of Education duly approved by the Government of Andhra pradesh and recognised by National Council of Technical Education (NCTE ). Association of Management of Minority Colleges of education is also a Society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1350 Fasli and it s members are running Colleges of education duly approved by the Government of Andhra Pradesh and recognised by national Council of Technical Education and claims to have been granted recognition as Minority Educational Institutions. ( 6 ) THE petitioners allege that the rights of minorities to establish and run educational institutions of their choice in pursuance of special fundamental rights conferred on them by the Constitution have been emphatically stated and reiterated by the supreme Court in number of decisions including in T. M. A. Pai Foundation v. State of Karnataka case (supra ). It has also been held in respect of minority institutions that subject to any reasonable regulations, it is open to the institutions to give preference in admissions to members and students of the concerned minority community. In the case of aided minority institutions, Supreme court held that it would be open for the state Governments to fix a percentage of seats that could be filled up in the general category and while upholding the right of the minority institutions to have the right of selection of students, Supreme Court further held that right to fix a fee shall remain with the educational institutions but such prescription should not amount to profiteering or charging a capitation fee. It was held that it is open for any unaided educational institution to have a rational fee structure. Despite the fact that the Supreme Court has declared the law in clear terms, it is alleged that for the academic year 2002-03, the 1st respondent issued G. O. Rt. No. 831, education (SE. TRG. I) Department dated 29. 12. 2002 thereby curtailing the right of minority institutions conducting B. Ed. , course to make admissions and also specified that fee chargeable in respect of any admission shall be the same as fixed for the previous year which is Rs. 10,800/- per annum. No. 831, education (SE. TRG. I) Department dated 29. 12. 2002 thereby curtailing the right of minority institutions conducting B. Ed. , course to make admissions and also specified that fee chargeable in respect of any admission shall be the same as fixed for the previous year which is Rs. 10,800/- per annum. Challenging the said G. O. some of the members of the Association of management of Minority Colleges of education had filed Writ Petition No. 661 of 2003 and this Court suspended the said g. O. to the extent it interfered with the right of the Management of Minority institutions to make admissions. Supreme court subsequently in Islamic Academy of education v. State of Karnataka, case declared that the educational institutions are entitled to fix their own fee structure and there cannot be any fixation of rigid fee structure by the Government and it was reiterated that it was for the institutions to fix a fee structure having regard to the expenditure borne by it and also to generate surplus to be utilised for the betterment and growth of the institution. In order to regulate and ensure that the fee structure is relatable to the expenditure incurred by the institutions and to ensure that the same does not amount to capitation fee, Supreme Court directed that all State governments shall set up in each State a committee headed by a retired High Court judge to be nominated by the Chief Justice of the State and other members to be nominated by the appointed Judge, who should be a Chartered Accountant of repute and a representative from the National council of Technical Education. Such committee has to scrutinise and verify whether the fee structure proposed by any institution is justified and the Committee shall approve the fee structure or propose some other fee, which should be charged by the institution and such fee structure shall be binding for a period of three years after which, Institute is permitted to make a request for revision. Supreme Court also clarified as regards the ratio for admission that for the academic year 2003-2004 seats shall be filled by Convenor and Management in the ratio of 50 : 50 and in case any minority institution seeks allotment of more than 50% seats, it should approach the committee to be constituted in accordance with the said judgment on the basis of local needs. ( 7 ) IN the aforementioned background, it is alleged that without noting the distinction between aided and unaided minority institutions, the 1st respondent has issued g. O. Ms. No. 1038, dated 10. 10. 2003 providing for admission procedure for all minority institutions, whether aided or unaided, which seeks to provide 50% of seats as general seats to be filled by the convenor and the remaining 50% seats to be filled by the Management by following the procedure specified therein. It is alleged that in T. M. A. Pai s case, Supreme court had categorically held that all managements of unaided Education institutions must have certain discretion in the matter of making selections and admissions and such discretionary management quota must be fixed by State government having regard to the local needs and conditions. Learned Counsel submitted that the expression "management quota" necessarily involve an element of discretion to the Management to fill up the seats in a manner chosen by it while conforming to the minimum requirements of the merit as prescribed by NCTE or any University. Recognising the nature of such management quota, the Government of Andhra Pradesh has fixed various discretionary management quotas for the educational institutions - engineering Colleges at 15%, for Medical colleges at 25% and for MBA and MCA courses at 15%. The fixation of management quota in respect of unaided colleges of Education was made disregarding the judgment of the Supreme Court in islamic Academy s case wherein the supreme Court held that for the academic year 2003-2004 management quota must be 50%. But in the case of admissions to b. Ed Colleges, which are to be made in december, 2003, impugned G. O. has fixed 50% quota to be filled as general seats by the Convenor without considering the local factors and local situations and the same is challenged in W. P. No. 21689 of 2003. In the said writ petition challenge is also made to the fee structure fixed in impugned g. O. Ms. No. 1038 dated 10. 10. 2003 as unsustainable in law and amounts to unreasonable restriction violating the rights of the minority institutions under Article 19 of the Constitution. ( 8 ) LEARNED Counsel for the petitioners vehemently urged that after the judgment was rendered in Islamic Academy s case by the Supreme Court on 14. 8. No. 1038 dated 10. 10. 2003 as unsustainable in law and amounts to unreasonable restriction violating the rights of the minority institutions under Article 19 of the Constitution. ( 8 ) LEARNED Counsel for the petitioners vehemently urged that after the judgment was rendered in Islamic Academy s case by the Supreme Court on 14. 8. 2003, there was sufficient time available to the 1st respondent to constitute Committee for fixing a fee structure even for the academic year 2003- 2004 and fixing a higher quota as management quota, which has not been done. As such action of the respondent in having issued G. O. is bad and is liable to be quashed. ( 9 ) WE have given due consideration to the submissions made at the Bar. ( 10 ) IN T. M. A. Pai Foundation v. State of Karnataka, case supra, Supreme Court while referring to private unaided educational institutions, held that the authority granting recognition or affiliation to such institutions can certainly lay down terms and conditions for grant of recognition or affiliation. These conditions must pertain broadly to academic and educational matters and welfare of students and teachers, but how the private unaided institutions are to run is a matter of administration to be taken care of by the management of those institutions. As regards the regulations that can be framed relating to private unaided professional institutions, supreme Court held: it would be unfair to apply the same rules and regulations regulating admission to both aided and unaided professional institutions. It must be borne in mind that unaided professional institutions are entitled to autonomy in their administration while, at the same time, they do not forego or discard the principle of merit. It would, therefore, be permissible for the University or the government, at the time of granting recognition, to require a private unaided institution to provide for merit-based selection while, at the same time, giving the management sufficient discretion in admitting students. This can be done through various methods. For instance, a certain percentage of the seats can be reserved for admission by the Management out of those students who have passed the Common entrance Test held by itself or by the State/ university and have applied to the college concerned for admission, while the rest of the seats may be filled up on the basis of counselling by the State agency. This will incidentally take care of poorer and backward sections of the society. The prescription of percentage for this purpose has to be done by the Government according to the local needs and different percentages can be fixed for minority unaided and non- minority aided and professional colleges. The same principles may be applied to other non-professional but unaided educational institutions viz. , graduation and post- graduation non-professional colleges or institutes. ( 11 ) AFTER judgment in T. M. A. Pai s case was delivered by 11 Judges Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on 31. 10. 2002, the Central Government, various State governments and some of the educational institutions appears to have understood the judgment in different perspectives, which led to initiation of various proceedings in several High Courts. Ultimately, in Islamic academy of Education v. State of Karnataka case (supra), clarification was given by five Judges Bench of the Supreme Court clarifying the judgment in T. M. A. Pai s case on the points on which doubts were raised. After hearing rival submissions, the apex Court formulated four points to be clarified, namely: (1) Whether the educational institutions are entitled to fix their own fee structure; (2) Whether minority and non-minority educational institutions stand on the same. footing and have the same rights; (3) Whether private unaided professional colleges are entitled to fill in their seats, to the extent of 100%, and if not to what extent; and (4) Whether private unaided professional colleges are entitled to admit students by evolving their own method of admission. ( 12 ) CLARIFICATION was given on the above four points. As regards filling up of seats and right to admit students evolving their own methods by the private unaided professional colleges, questions 3 and 4 were answered by the Supreme Court saying: the majority judgment makes a distinction between private unaided professional colleges and other educational institutions i. e. , schools and undergraduate colleges. The sub-heading "private unaided professional colleges includes both minority as well as non-minority professional colleges. This is also clear from a reading of paragraph 68. It appears to us that this distinction has been made (between private unaided professional colleges and other educational institutions) as the judgment recognises that it is in national interest to have good and efficient professionals. The judgment provides that national interest would prevail, even over minority rights. This is also clear from a reading of paragraph 68. It appears to us that this distinction has been made (between private unaided professional colleges and other educational institutions) as the judgment recognises that it is in national interest to have good and efficient professionals. The judgment provides that national interest would prevail, even over minority rights. It is for this reason that in professional colleges, both minority and non- minority, merit has been made the criteria for admission. However, a proper reading of paragraph 68, indicates that a further distinction has been made between minority and non-minority professional colleges. It is provided that in cases of non-minority professional colleges "a certain percentage of seats" can be reserved for admission by the Management. The rest have to be filled up on bases of counselling by State agencies. The prescription of percentage has to be done by the Government according to local needs. Keeping this in mind provisions have to be made for the poorer and backward sections of the society. ( 13 ) SUPREME Court further clarified that while a different percentage can be prescribed for unaided minority institutions, same yardstick cannot be applied to both minority and non-minority professional colleges. This different percentage for minority professional institutions carries different meaning than the expression "certain percentage for unaided professional colleges". In fixing percentage for unaided minority professional colleges, State must keep in mind, apart from local needs, the interest/need of that community in the state. The need of that community in the State would be paramount vis-a-vis the local needs. Thus, it was clarified that a minority professional college can admit in their management quota a student of their community/language in preference to a student of another community even though the other student is more meritorious, with a rider that while selecting/admitting students of their community/language, the institution cannot ignore the inter-se merit of such students. If seats cannot be filled from members of their community/language, other students can be admitted on the basis of merit based on a Common Entrance Test conducted by the State agencies. It was also held that the Management can select students in their quota either on the basis of Common Entrance Test conducted by the State or on the basis of Common entrance Test to be conducted by an association of Colleges of a particular type in that State. It was also held that the Management can select students in their quota either on the basis of Common Entrance Test conducted by the State or on the basis of Common entrance Test to be conducted by an association of Colleges of a particular type in that State. The Common Entrance Test to be conducted by the Association of colleges must be for admission to all colleges of their type in the State. Option to choose between either of these tests must be exercised before issuing prospectus and after intimation to the concerned authority and the Committee set up as envisaged in the judgment of the Supreme court. If any of the professional colleges choose not to admit students qualified from the Common Entrance Test conducted by the Association, then the college must necessarily admit candidates qualified in the common Entrance Test conducted by the state. ( 14 ) IN Islamic Academy s case (supra), the Supreme Court further directed that in order to give effect to the said judgment, respective State Governments shall set up in each State a Committee headed by a retired High Court Judge to be nominated by the Chief Justice and the other members to be nominated by the appointed Judge. Each educational institution is required to place before the Committee well in advance of the academic year it s proposed fee structure with relevant documents and books of accounts. The Committee thereafter is required to decide whether fees proposed by the institution is justified and are not profiteering or charging capitation fee. The Committee is at liberty to approve the fee structure or to propose some other fee, which can be charged by the institute. This fee structure shall be binding for a period of three years and at the end of which period the Institute is at liberty to apply for revision. Insofar as the year 2003-2004 is concerned, as time was running out to complete the admissions in the professional colleges, and in order to meet the urgent situations, without going into the issues involved in various petitions, the Supreme Court directed that the seats to be filled up by the Institutions and the State Governments for the academic year 2003-2004 should be in the ratio of 50:50. ( 15 ) JUDGMENT in Islamic Academy s case (supra) was pronounced on 14. 8. 2003. ( 15 ) JUDGMENT in Islamic Academy s case (supra) was pronounced on 14. 8. 2003. In order to make the things clear insofar as the academic year 2003-2004 is concerned, the State Government proceeded to issue g. O. Rt. No. 1038 dated 10. 10. 2003 stating that the process had been initiated to constitute two Committees, one to approve the fee structure and the other Committee to oversee the Common Entrance Tests to be conducted by the Association of Private managements to ensure that the test is conducted in a fair and transparent manner. In the meanwhile, in order to avoid further delay, decision has been taken by the government to allot candidates to the extent of 50% of seats in private unaided colleges of Education since Common entrance Test had already been, conducted by the Convenor, Ed. CET-2003 on 6. 7. 2003 and results were announced as far back on 10. 8. 2003, therefore, it would be expedient to allot candidates on the basis of the merit ranking in the Common Entrance Test for 50% candidates being allotted by the government. As regards the remaining 50% of seats, the G. O. says that the said seats may be filled by the respective Managements from candidates qualified in the Common entrance Test either conducted by the government i. e. , Ed. CET or if they so choose from the candidates qualified in the Common entrance Test to be held by the Association of Private Managements of Colleges of education strictly as per merit. Insofar as fee structure is concerned, the G. O has clarified that while the constitution of committees is likely to take some more time, the Government felt that expeditious decision would help to maintain the academic calendar and save one academic year for the students, by continuing the existing fee structure of Rs. 10,800/- for all seats in B. Ed Course for the academic year 2003-2004. ( 16 ) IN the light of the decision of the supreme Court in T. M. A. Pai s case as clarified in Islamic Academy of Education v. State of Karnataka case (supra), in our considered view, the State Government cannot be said to have acted either irrationally, arbitrarily or illegally in issuing the directions as contained in g. O. Rt. No. 1038, more particularly, when it is for the benefit of all the students and to maintain academic calendar. No. 1038, more particularly, when it is for the benefit of all the students and to maintain academic calendar. Common entrance Test was conducted on 6. 7. 2003. The results of which were announced on 10. 8. 2003. Admissions process will have to start during this month or in December for the academic year 2003-2004. It cannot be expected that the Committees would be able to meet in such a short period and would take decision either as regards the fee structure or sharing of the seats between state and Management of Private Unaided professional Colleges. ( 17 ) LEARNED Counsel for the petitioner vehemently contended that insofar as the medical Colleges and Engineering Colleges are concerned, discretion was left with the institutions in two G. O. s.-G. O. Ms. No. 34, higher Education (EC) Department dated 11. 6. 2003 and G. O. Ms. No. 488, Health, medical and Family Welfare (El) Department, dated 5. 9. 2003 issued respectively in that regard giving more discretion than what is given to the Professional Colleges of Education conducting B. Ed. , Course. We do not find any irrationality or discrimination therein since even admission to the seats in those professional colleges had to be on merit only and no discretion as is projected was given to the private unaided Professional colleges or Minority Professional Colleges. Further, the factors such as type of professional course conducted by the colleges, duration of the course have also a role to play in the matter which would have perhaps weighed with the Government to distinguish the Colleges of Education from other Professional Colleges. In any event, in our considered view, no exception can be taken to the orders issued by the Government in the impugned G. O which has taken due care of the larger interests of all the students, particularly in the wake of situation obtaining after the judgment in T. M. A Pai s case and the subsequent clarifications issued by the supreme Court in Islamic Academy s case decided on 14. 8. 2003. 8. 2003. On constitution of the Committees as envisaged in Islamic academy s case, the Committees will certainly have to work out the fee structure as well as the sharing of seats between the state and Management which of course will have to be made applicable only from next academic year i. e. 2004-2005 for which relevant data will have to be placed by the private Unaided Educational Institutions before the Committees to enable the committees to take appropriate decision on the basis of the material placed before them. Consequently, we do not find any merit in the Writ Petition Nos. 21689 and 21690 of 2003, which are dismissed as devoid of any merit. ( 18 ) INSOFAR as W. P. No. 19410 of 2003 is concerned, since the process had already been initiated by the State Government for constitution of the Committees, no directions need be issued in the said writ petition, which stands disposed of with the hope and expectation that the Committees would be made functional expeditiously. ( 19 ) THERE shall be no order as to costs.