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Govt cannot discriminate between minority and majority: SC

Warning all governments not to pursue any policy preferential to one community, the Supreme Court has ruled that the essence of Article 30 (1) of the Constitution was to ensure equal treatment between majority and minority institutions.

"No one type or category of institution should be disfavoured or, for that matter, receive more favourable treatment than another," an 11-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice B N Kirpal ruled by 6:5 majority.

On Article 30 (1), Justice Kirpal, writing the majority judgement, said it was a sort of guarantee or assurance to the linguistic and religious minority institutions of their right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.

"Secularism and equality being two of the basic features of the Constitution, Article 30 (1) ensures protection to the linguistic and religious minorities, thereby preserving the secularism of the country. Furthermore, the principle of equality must necessarily apply to the enjoyment of such rights," the CJI said.

Other judges of the bench who agreed with the CJI were Justice G B Pattanaik, Justice S Rajendra Babu, Justice K G Balakrishnan, Justice P V Reddi and Justice Arijit Pasayat.

The majority judgement said no government can frame laws that would discriminate against minorities with regard to the establishment and administration of educational institutions vis-a-vis educational institutions established by the non-minority community.

"Any law or rule or regulation that would put the educational institutions run by the minorities at a disadvantage when compared to the institutions run by others will have to be struck down," the bench said.

"At the same time, there also cannot be any reverse discrimination," Justice Kirpal said. He meant that a minority institution could not be more favoured as compared to the majority institution.

The Supreme Court said that the laws of the land should apply equally to the majority institutions as well as the minority institutions. "The minority institutions must be allowed to do what the non-minority institutions are permitted to do," the CJI said.

ALSO SEE:
State-funded minority institutions subject to rules: SC

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