New Delhi: In a fresh judgment, the Delhi High Court has stayed its previous order granting freedom to minority-run schools in the capital to formulate their own admission criteria.

Hearing a petition which sought to bring the minority schools within the ambit of the fresh policy of the state government, a division bench headed by chief justice M K Sharma stayed the earlier order till December 6.

Earlier, Justice B D Ahmed of the court had ruled that un-aided minority schools in the capital cannot be forced to implement the Ganguly Committee recommendations and hence were also freed to formulate their own admission criteria. Justice Ahmed had last year held that minority schools are ''not obliged to follow the points system'' recommended by the Ganguly Committee.

Justice Ahmed had then dismissed a petition filed by the father of a girl child who was denied admission to nursery class by a school, as she did not fulfill the criteria evolved by the school management.

However in the recent judgment the HC held, ''So far as the schools run by minority communities are concerned, their rights have been clearly safeguarded not only with regard to admitting children of the minority communities, but of children in general.''