Article 30: Right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions

Leading cases

• T.M.A. Pai Foundation v. State of Karnataka (2002)An eleven judge Bench held that all citizens may establish and administer educational institutions under Articles 19(1)(g) and 26, minorities also under Article 30, with minority status judged State-wise; the Unni Krishnan scheme was held unconstitutional.
• P.A. Inamdar v. State of Maharashtra (2005)The State cannot appropriate seats or enforce its reservation policy in unaided minority or non-minority institutions; such institutions may set their own fair, transparent, merit-based admissions and non-profiteering fees, subject to regulation including the Islamic Academy committees.
• Rev. Sidhajbhai Sabhai v. State of Bombay (1962)Government orders reserving 80% of seats in a Christian minority's teacher training college for government-nominated teachers, enforced by threats to withhold grant and recognition, infringed the absolute right of minorities under Article 30(1).
• Pramati Educational and Cultural Trust v. Union of India (2014)Article 15(5) and Article 21A do not violate the basic structure and are valid; the Right to Education Act, 2009 is valid against private unaided schools but cannot apply to minority schools, aided or unaided.
• Islamic Academy of Education v. State of Karnataka (2003)Clarifying T.M.A. Pai, the majority held that unaided professional colleges may fix their own fees subject to no profiteering or capitation fee, and directed State committees under Article 142 to approve fees and supervise admission tests.
• Rev. Father W. Proost v. State of Bihar (1968)The right of a religious minority under Article 30(1) to establish and administer educational institutions of its choice is not limited by Article 29(1); St. Xavier's College, Ranchi had that protection and was exempt under Section 48-B.
• Society for Unaided Private Schools of Rajasthan v. Union of India (2012)The majority upheld the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, including the 25% admission requirement in Section 12(1)(c), for unaided non-minority schools, but held that the Act does not apply to unaided minority schools.

Questions on this article

17 questions in 39 of our papers cite Article 30. Try these from the free papers:

1. 1. Consider the following statements regarding Article 15(5): 1. Special provisions under it relating to admission may be made for the minority educational institutions referred to in Article 30(1). 2. Special provisions under it relating to admission may extend to private educational institutions that are not aided by the State. 3. Special provisions under it may be made by executive order without any law. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

   A.1, 2 and 3B.2 onlyC.2 and 3 onlyD.1 and 2 only
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2. 2. Article 30(1) confers the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice on all minorities based on:

   A.religion or cultureB.language or scriptC.religion or languageD.religion, language or caste
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3. 3. Under Article 30(2), the State, in granting aid to educational institutions, shall not discriminate against any educational institution on the ground that:

   A.it is under the management of a religious or linguistic minorityB.it is located in a rural or backward area of the StateC.it admits students who are domiciled in other StatesD.it charges fees higher than those in government institutions
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