The Supreme Court on May 21 held that minorities have fundamental right to establish their educational institutions and the Government should not put any unreasonable restrictions on it. “It appears that the appellant is a religious minority. As a religious minority, it has a fundamental right to establish and administer educational institutions of its choice in view of the clear mandate of Article 30,” the Apex Court said in a judgment.
Article 30 says that “All minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions, in the country”. The Article further provides that the State shall not discriminate against such institutions even if they obtain aid from the Government.
The apex court passed the judgement while upholding an appeal filed by Cannanore District Muslim Educational Association challenging a Kerala High Court decision that the association had no statutory right to run a higher secondary course in the Sir Syed College run by it.