MODULE 4[B]: ARTICLES 30, 31 & 32

Article 30: Educational Rights of Minorities

 Protection of rights of the religious and ethnic minorities is the backbone of India's
secular values.
 With a legacy of bringing all religions under its fold, India has always advocated the
principle of equality.
 The Article 30 of the Indian constitution is one of the many provisions that ensure
preservation of minority rights.
 Article 30 is classified under Part III of the Indian Constitution that throws light on the
fundamental rights provided to the citizens of India irrespective of their caste, religion
and sex.
 Article 30 promises the rights of minorities "to establish and administer educational
institutions".
 Article 30 has two clauses:
 Article 30 (1) promises to all linguistic and religious minorities the ‘right to establish’
and the ‘right to administer’ educational institutions of their own choice.
 The right is provided by this clause on two types of minorities, namely, religious and
linguistic minorities.
 The right vested in the above minorities is to establish and administer educational
institutions of their choice.
 The word "establish" indicates the right to bring into existence, while the right to
administer an institution means the right to effectively manage and conduct the affairs of
the institution.
 The administration implies management and affairs of the institution. The management
must be free of control and restrictions so that the founders of their community can frame

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 the institution as they think fit in correspondence with their views and ideas of how the
interest of the community in general and the institution will be delivered.
 Thus it gives choice to the minority community to establish such educational institutions
as it will serve both purposes, that is, the purpose of protecting their religion, language or
culture, and also the purpose of giving through general education to their children in their
own language.
 Article 30 (2) restricts the State from making discrimination in the matter of providing
help to any educational institution on the ground that it is managed by a religious
minority or linguistic minority.
 Section 2, clause (c) of the National Commission of Minorities Act, declares six
communities as minority communities.
 They are: Muslims Christians Buddhists Sikhs Jains and Zoroastrians (Parsis) Article 30
of the Constitution of India, in which we are dealing, talks only about religious and
linguistic minorities.
In D.A.V. College, Bhatinda v. State of Punjab, the University ordered that Punjabi would be the
one and only medium of instruction in affiliated colleges. The Court held that the right provided
to minorities under Article 30 guarantees them to establish and administer educational
institutions of their own choice which also includes the right of giving instructions in their own
language and the University Circular was directly violating their right to have instructions in
Hindi as their own language and therefore infringing the Article 30 (1). A University has the
authority to suggest the qualification of their academic staff but the selection and recruitment of
teachers remains in the hands of the minority educational institutions.
 Article 30 (2) restricts a State from discriminating any type of minority section on the
grounds of religion or language in the matter of providing help to any educational
institutions run by them.
In Bramchari Sidheswar v. State of West Bengal, also called as the Ram Krishna Mission case, it
was decided by the Supreme Court that the Ram Krishna Mission was set up by Swami
Vivekananda to spread the idea and values of Vedanta as explained by Ram Krishna is not

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considered as a religion that falls under the minority community and it is not apart from Hindu
religion but it is a religious section or a branch of Hindu religion. Therefore they are unable to
exercise the fundamental rights provided under Article 30 (1) of the Indian Constitution.

Article 31(A)
 After 1978, in the area of property, there were only four constitutional provisions i.e.
31A. 31, 31B, 31C and 300A.
 Though A. 31A, 31B and 31C are included in the chapter of fundamental rights they
cannot be called as fundamental rights in the real sense, as they do not confer
fundamental right but impose certain restriction on right to property.
 The main object of these provisions was to provide immunity to various laws curtailing
property rights.

Emergence of Article 31 A
 This Article was added to the Constitution of India by the First Amendment, 1951.
 Later, the Fourth Amendment substituted various clauses in it. Article 31 A -Saving of
certain laws Article 31A –
(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in Article 13, no law providing for –
(a) The acquisition by the State of any estate or of any rights therein or the
extinguishment or modification of any such rights, or
(b) The taking over of the management of any property by the State for a limited period
either in the public interest or in order to secure the proper management of the property,
or

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 (c) The amalgamation of two or more corporations either in the public interest or in order
to secure the proper management of any of the corporations,
or
(d) The extinguishment or modification of any rights of managing agents, secretaries and
treasurers, managing directors, directors or managers of corporations, or of any voting
rights of shareholders thereof,
or
(e) The extinguishment or modification of any rights accruing by virtue of any
agreement, lease or licence for the purpose of searching for, or winning, any mineral or
mineral oil, or the premature termination or cancellation of any such agreement, lease or
licence, shall be deemed to be void on the ground that it is inconsistent with, or takes
away or abridges any of the rights conferred by Article 14 or Article 19:
 Provided that where such law is a law made by the Legislature of a State, the provisions
of this article shall not apply thereto unless such law, having been reserved for the
consideration of the President, has received his assent:
 [Provided further that where any law makes any provision for the acquisition by the State
of any estate and where any land comprised therein is held by a person under his personal
cultivation.
 It shall not be lawful for the State to acquire any portion of such land as is within the
ceiling limit applicable to him under any law for the time being in force or any building
or structure standing thereon or appurtenant thereto, unless the law relating to the
acquisition of such land, building or structure, provides for payment of compensation at a
rate which shall not be less than the market value thereof.

Article 32: Right to Constitutional Remedy

Introduction and Concept:

 Article 32 is considered to be the Heart and Soul of all the Fundamental Rights. It
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 provides for the right to Constitutional Remedies.
 It states that in cases of violation of ones’s fundamental right by the State, he/ she may
directly approach the Supreme Court.
 Also the Court under this Article has the power to issue five writs called Habeas Corpus,
Mandamus, Certiorari, Prohibition and Quo warranto, by the virtue of which such
Fundamental Rights are restored to the aggrieved parties.
 Merely conferring rights is never enough, until and unless there exists a mechanism of
their enforcement.1
 Until and unless such a mechanism is provided, rights tend to remain merely 'paper
rights.'
 A mechanism is a sine qua non for enforcement and application in a situation when any
of such right has been violated.
 Article 32 of the Indian Constitution is one such provision for the enforcement of the
Fundamental Rights as provided under the Indian Constitution.

The Article is divided into 4 parts -

1. An aggrieved party can move to the Apex Court to seek legal remedy in case of infringement
of his Fundamental Rights.
2. The Supreme Court protects the Fundamental Rights by way of issuing Writs in the name of
Habeas Corpus, Mandamus, Prohibition, Quo Warranto and Certiorari.
3. The Parliament has the power to empower any other Court with this power of issuing Writs
and protecting the Fundamental Rights. Till date this power has not been exercised by the
Parliament.
4. There is an exception to this Article i.e. Article 352, in case of Emergency being proclaimed,
the rights under this Article can be suspended by the proclamation issued by The President.
 There are five types of Writs -
 Habeas Corpus,

11
. J C Johari, Indian Government and Politics, p 103.
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  Mandamus,
 Prohibition,
 Certiorari and
 Quo warranto
 Habeas Corpus: "Habeas Corpus" is a Latin term which literally means "you may have
the body." The writ is issued to produce a detained person before the court and release
him if he is wrongly confined.
 Mandamus: Mandamus is a Latin word, which means "We Command". Mandamus is an
order from the Supreme Court/ High Court to a lower court/ tribunal/ public authority to
perform a public or statutory duty, when they fail to perform so.
 Certiorari: Certiorari means to be certified. The writ of certiorari can be issued by the
Supreme Court or any High Court for quashing the order already passed by an inferior
court, tribunal or quasi judicial authority.
 Prohibition: The Writ of prohibition means to forbid or to stop and it is popularly known
as 'Stay Order'. This writ is issued when a lower court or a body tries to transgress the
limits or powers vested in it.

Difference between Prohibition and Certiorari: While the writ of prohibition is available during
the pendency of proceedings, the writ of certiorari can be resorted to only after the order or
decision has been announced.
 Quo Warranto: The Writ literally means "by what warrants?" or "what is your
authority"? It is a writ issued with a view to restrain a person from holding a public office
to which he is not entitled

Words of the Article-

(1) The right to move the Supreme Court by appropriate proceedings for
the enforcement of the rights conferred by this Part is guaranteed.

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 (2) The Supreme Court shall have power to issue directions or orders or
writs, including writs in the nature of habeas corpus, mandamus,
prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari, whichever may be appropriate,
for the enforcement of any of the rights conferred by this Part.
(3) Without prejudice to the powers conferred on the Supreme Court by
clauses (1) and (2), Parliament may by law empower any other court to
exercise within the local limits of its jurisdiction all or any of the powers
exercisable by the Supreme Court under clause (2).
(4) The right guaranteed by this article shall not be suspended except as
otherwise provided for by this Constitution.

 The Article provides that the Supreme Court has the power to enforce the Fundamental
Rights of the Citizens.
 For this it may issue the aforementioned five writs. However clause 3 to the Article
specifically states that the Parliament may by Law, give this right to any other court too.
 The final clause states that except the cases where the Constitution specifically provides,
the rights under this article cannot be suspended.

 Heart is the locus of feelings and intuitions.

 Similarly Article gives the feeling to its citizens that they are secured and protected by
the law.

 Only a mere declaration of fundamental rights in the constitution is meaningless,useless

and worthless if there is the absence of an effective machinery for their enforcement,if
and when they are violated.

 Hence, Article 32 confers the right to remedies for the enforcement of the fundamental
rights of an aggrieved citizen.
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  This makes the fundamental rights,the base of the constitution real as the right to get
fundamental rights is protected in itself a fundamental right.

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