In Brief
The Punjab government repealed The Khalsa University Act 2016, which had established Khalsa University as a self-financed private university under the 2010 Private Universities Policy. The repeal was justified solely on protecting Khalsa College's heritage. The Supreme Court held that the Repeal Act was unconstitutional under Article 14 of the Constitution. Since 16 other private universities had been established under the same 2010 Policy without repeal, singling out Khalsa University without reasonable classification or intelligible differentia constituted unlawful discrimination. Moreover, the stated justification—protecting Khalsa College's heritage—was factually baseless since Khalsa University was not affiliated with the heritage Khalsa College (founded 1892) but with later-established professional colleges. The Act was therefore manifestly arbitrary and struck down, restoring The Khalsa University Act 2016.
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