NEW DELHI, INDIA, July 25, 2002: Taking a view very different from that of the Centre (that is, India’s central or federal government) on Minority Educational Institutions (MEIs), Attorney General Soli Sorabjee on Thursday told the Supreme Court that minority’s right to establish and administer educational institutions under the Constitution was absolute. “The fundamental right of administration of a minority educational institution under Article 30, on its terms and language, is absolute,” Sorabjee submitted before an 11-Judge constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice B N Kirpal hearing arguments on several aspects of the MEIs. Solicitor General Harish Salve, appearing for the Centre, had contended last week that in the constitutional framework of schemes no right was absolute and hence the right to establish and administer and educational institutions by the minority community could not be an absolute right. When the Bench asked how a right could be absolute, Sorabjee promptly clarified although no right could be absolute, the right of the minority communities to manage their own schools should not be tinkered by an outside agency. These minority schools receive government funds for teacher’s salaries and other expenses, may manage their own affairs and may teach their religion. Hindu schools similarly funded may not teach religion and may be run by a government-appointed administrator.
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