Supreme Court Defends Regulatory Laws for Minority Institutions: No Violation of Secularism

Supreme Court Defends Regulatory Laws for Minority Institutions: No Violation of Secularism

Sub: Polity

Sec: Constitution

Why in News

The Supreme Court of India, while hearing a case concerning the regulation of madrasas under the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madrasa Education Act, 2004, clarified that laws regulating religious or linguistic minority institutions do not inherently breach secularism. This observation followed a challenge to an Allahabad High Court decision, which had struck down the Act, claiming it violated secular principles.

Supreme Court’s Stand on Secularism and Minority Institutions:

The Supreme Court observed that regulating institutions run by religious or linguistic minorities does not automatically breach secularism.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) emphasized that a law regulating such institutions, by itself, does not violate the principle of secularism. He clarified that a State has the right to regulate minority institutions, especially when they are government-aided.

The CJI stressed that providing broad-based education in madrasas is essential for students to acquire knowledge beyond religious teachings and become productive citizens.

What is the definition of minority under Indian laws?

The expression “minorities” appears in some Articles of the Constitution, but is not defined anywhere.

In the exercise of its powers under the Section 2(c) of the NCM Act, the Centre on October 23, 1993, notified five groups — Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis — as ‘minority’ communities. Jains were added to the list in January 2014.

What does the Constitution say about minorities?

Article 29, which deals with the “Protection of interests of minorities”, says that “any section of the citizens residing in the territory of India or any part thereof having a distinct language, script or culture of its own shall have the right to conserve the same”, and that “no citizen shall be denied admission into any educational institution maintained by the State or receiving aid out of State funds on grounds only of religion, race, caste, language or any of them”.

Article 30 deals with the “right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions”. It says that all minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. It says that “in making any law providing for the compulsory acquisition of any property of an educational institution established and administered by a minority…, the State shall ensure that the amount fixed by or determined under such law for the acquisition of such property is such as would not restrict or abrogate the right guaranteed under that clause”, and that “the state shall not, in granting aid to educational institutions, discriminate against any educational institution on the ground that it is under the management of a minority, whether based on religion or language”.

Article 350(A) says there shall be a Special Officer for linguistic minorities to be appointed by the President. “It shall be the duty of the Special Officer to investigate all matters relating to the safeguards provided for linguistic minorities under this Constitution and report to the President upon those matters at such intervals as the President may direct, and the President shall cause all such reports to be laid before each House of Parliament, and sent to the Governments of the States concerned”.

Article 28 – Prohibition of Religious Instruction in State-Funded Educational Institutions

Article 28 deals with the issue of religious instruction in educational institutions, especially those funded or maintained by the state. It establishes clear boundaries between religion and education in India.

Clause (1): Prohibits religious instruction in educational institutions fully funded by the state.

Clause (2): Institutions with religious endowments can provide religious instruction even if maintained by the state.

Clause (3): No student in state-recognized or state-aided institutions can be forced to participate in religious instruction or worship without their consent.

Promotes secularism by preventing religious teachings in government-funded institutions while protecting individual freedom of religion in education.

About SECULARISM:

Secularism is defined as a separation of religious institutions from the institutions of state, and no domination of the political sphere by religious institutions.

It is the belief that religion should not influence or be involved in the organization of society, education, government, etc.

The following are the features of Indian secularism:

1. Equal respect and regard for all faiths by the nation.
2. No prejudice sponsored by the state between residents on religion basis.
3. India follows the policy of non-interference in the functioning of any faith by the state.
4. Moreover, the 42nd Constitutional Amendment of the Indian Constitution states that India is a secular country, thus, there is no relationship between religion and state. However, India pays respects to all religions but it did not recognize any national religion.

Indian philosophy of secularism is related to “Sarva Dharma Sambhava” which means equal respect to all religions.

India does partially separate religion and state. For example, it does not have an official state religion and state-owned educational institutions cannot impart religious instructions.