The Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court of India (comprising of Hon’ble CJI R M Lodha, and Justices A K Patnaik, Sudhansu Jyoti Mukhopadhaya, Dipak Misra and Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla) vide its judgment dated 6 May, 2014 has established a further milestone by holding that children have a right to choose their language of education and also that minority institutions have a right to impart education in the language of their choice.
Presented herein below is a summarized version of the judgment for our readers:
The Karnataka Government had issued an order dated 19 June, 1989 prescribing mother tongue as the medium of instruction from Standard I to Standard IV. This order was modified by a subsequent order dated 22 June, 1989. The Supreme Court in its judgment dated 8 December, 1993 had held these two orders to be constitutionally valid.
Thereafter, the Government of Karnataka had issued a fresh order dated 29 April, 1994 deliberating upon the language policy to be followed in primary and high schools with effect from the next academic session (1994-95) thereby annulling the previous orders. The provisions of the said order were challenged on the grounds of being ultra vires Articles 19(1)(a), 19(1)(g), 26, 29 and 30(1) of the Constitution of India. The Government of Karnataka defended the order as a policy decision and in accordance with Article 350A of the Constitution.
The Karnataka High Court (Full Bench) after due consideration of the Constitutional mandate held the order dated 29 April, 2014 to be violative of Articles 19(1)(g), 26 and 30(1) of the Constitution so far as the order extended to schools other than those run or aided by the Government. As this order was not implemented for more than an year, the High Court of Karnataka issued further orders for compliance. This was then challenged before the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India.
Five specific questions were referred to the Constitution Bench of the Hon’ble Court. We shall now briefly deal with the said questions and the answers of the Court thereto:
1. What does Mother tongue mean? If it is referred to as the language in which the child is comfortable with, then who will decide the same?
Mother tongue in the context of the Constitution refers to the language of the linguistic minority in a State and it is the parent or the guardian of the child who will decide what the mother tongue of the child is.
2. Whether a student or a parent or a citizen has a right to choose a medium of instruction at primary stage?
A child or on his behalf his parent or guardian, has a right to freedom of choice with regard to the medium of instruction in which he would like to be educated at the primary stage in school. This right is bestowed upon the child or on his behalf his parent or guardian by virtue of Article 19(1)(a) and not under Article 21 or Article 21A of the Constitution.
3. Does the imposition of mother tongue in any way affect the fundamental rights under Articles 14, 19, 29 and 30 of the Constitution?
The State cannot stipulate as a condition for recognition that the medium of instruction for children studying in classes I to IV in minority schools protected under Articles 29(1) and 30(1) of the Constitution and in private unaided schools enjoying the right to carry on any occupation under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution would be the mother tongue of the children as such stipulation. The imposition of mother tongue affects the fundamental rights under Articles 19, 29 and 30 of the Constitution.
4. Whether the Government recognized schools are inclusive of both government-aided schools and private & unaided schools?
All schools, whether they are established by the Government or whether they are aided by the Government or whether they are not aided by the Government, require recognition to be granted in accordance of the provisions of the appropriate Act or Government order. Therefore, Government recognized schools will not only include government aided schools but also unaided schools which have been granted recognition.
5. Whether the State can by virtue of Article 350-A of the Constitution compel the linguistic minorities to choose their mother tongue only as medium of instruction in primary schools?
The State has no power under Article 350A of the Constitution to compel the linguistic minorities to choose their mother tongue only as a medium of instruction in primary schools.
The element of compulsion while deciding upon a fixed mother tongue for every child is against the law of the land. The judgment is in line with the ideals of freedom and liberty as enshrined in the Constitution of our country and has caught the attention of the media. If you wish to go through some of those news articles, you could view of the following links: