Afraid that Attorney General Soli Sorabjee could, in his ‘‘personal’’ capacity, contradict the Government’s stand in the crucial Supreme Court case involving the rights of minority institutions, the Government plans to arm itself with a Cabinet resolution.The Government, represented by Solicitor General Harish Salve, has argued that once minority institutions receive Government aid, they should lose their special right to reserve seats purely on religious or linguistic lines.Sorabjee, who kept away from the case because he had appeared on behalf of one of the petitioners, was asked by the 11-judge Constitution bench to appear next month and give his ‘‘personal opinion.’’What this opinion will be isn’t known but when asked by The Indian Express, Sorabjee had said: ‘‘Theoretically, my submissions may not be identical to those of the Union of India.’’If Sorabjee disagrees with Salve’s arguments, the Government will be in for an embarrassment reinforcing its anti-minority image.In a bid to deter Sorabjee from deviating too far from the Government’s line, HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi has upped the ante by deciding to get the Cabinet’s stamp before the court reopens next month.Joshi has evidently been forced to seek the Cabinet’s approval to make up for an omission. Salve’s stand had been cleared only by a Group of Ministers (GOM) headed by Joshi himself.But this is technically inadequate because there is already a Cabinet resolution passed five years ago by the then United Front Government taking a substantially different stand in the same case of minority institutions.Therefore, if the National Democratice Alliance Government wishes to supercede its predecessor’s decision, it can do so only through another Cabinet resolution.Salve is confident he will be backed by the Cabinet. ‘‘I have no reason to think the Law Ministry will not endorse the line I took in the Supreme Court,’’ Salve said, adding ‘‘I have no information of any change in the Government’s stand nor, for that matter, of any change of the Government’s counsel.’’
