| Regulation of Minority Education Institutions Articles 29 and 30 deal with the cultural and educational rights of minorities. Article 30(1): Guarantees the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice to religious and linguistic minorities. National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI): Constituted as a quasi-judicial body by NCMEI Act 2004 to safeguard the educational rights of minorities enshrined in Article 30(1). |
- The Supreme Court partially upheld the constitutional validity of the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madrasa Education Act 2004 in Anjum Kadari and another v. Union of India and others.
- The Supreme Court also confirmed that the State can regulate madrasa education to ensure standards of excellence.
- The SC has set aside Allahabad High Court’s March 2024 judgement that struck down the Madrasa Act.
- It was struck down for violating the principle of secularism, Articles 14, 21 and 21-A of the Constitution and was ultra vires Section 22 of the University Grants Commission (UGC) Act, 1956.
- However, the SC held that a statute could be struck down if it violates Fundamental Rights under Part III and not for violation of the basic structure doctrine of the Constitution.
- The Basic Structure doctrine comprises undefined concepts like democracy, federalism, and secularism.
- The court held that allowing courts to invalidate legislation based on these concepts could introduce uncertainty in constitutional adjudication.
- Challenges to laws for violating secularism must trace the violation to specific constitutional provisions.
- In the Indira Nehru Gandhi vs. Raj Narain case, where the Basic Structure doctrine was first used to invalidate a constitutional amendment distinguished between ordinary statutes and constitutional amendments, noting that applying the doctrine to statutes would amount to rewriting the Constitution.
- It held that the Madrasa Act is within the legislative competence of the State Legislature and traceable to Entry 25 of the concurrent list.
- In addition, provisions regulating Higher Education come under Union List Entry 66 causing degrees like ‘Fazil’ (post-graduate degree) and ‘Kamil’ (undergraduate degree) unconstitutional as they conflict with UGC Act, 1956.
Dig Deeper: Read about the fundamental rights of minorities under the Indian constitution.
