Anil R Nair*
Citation: 2017(LW) September 05 Volume VIII | Issue IX
Abstract
While the Constitutional provisions for preserving the linguistic, cultural, and religious identity of Indians exist as fundamental rights, the right to be educated remains as a claim against the State which should be exercisable untrammelled by the influence of any other vested interests including the narrow sectarian and parochial interests protected as linguistic, cultural, and religious rights. The complete enjoyment of the right to education implies the empowerment of an individual to make the right choices in a free manner. This is possible only if the child grows into an adult without being brain washed into any religious or ideological belief or other belief. This paper explores the need to ensure the right to free choice to our future generations as a matter of their fundamental right to education within our legal system and argues for a differential recognition of existing fundamental rights for the same.
Keywords: Free Choice, Liberty, Fundamental Rights, Right to Education
Introduction
The right to be educated is an essential aspect of life as a human being. Civilisational progress depends on the refinement of the human intellect and the quest for excellence as a human being is solely dependent on the education a person receives in life. While education is achievable through formal and informal means, with the advent of industrialisation, it is the formal, structured education offered under a regulated environment that has become the norm for most of the population in a civilised State.
Education is arguably the most important social engineering tool available to a progressive State. Modern, scientific education empowers the citizenry. It lays the foundation for the development of scientific temper and creates the conditions necessary for the acceptance of new ideas. It acts as a catalyst to progress. The modern political State may also use it to promote the objects of the State including the inculcation of a sense of nationalism – a pan-national identity which subsumes fissiparous tendencies including cultural, linguistic, and religious ideologies that under the guise of individual liberties harms the unity of the State itself. In the Indian context, education may be the most appropriate vehicle of choice to promote in its future generations a sense of secularism that can lift the country out of the morass of religious parochialism to ensure the progressive growth of the nation.
International Recognition of a Right to Education
The right to education is a recognised human right under various instruments though the quality of its availability as a recognised claim against the State varies in different countries. Starting from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 (UDHR), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966 (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Educational, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966 (ICESCR), the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989 (CRC) and the United Nations 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development under its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – all provide for recognition to a right to education in various ways.
Article 26 of the UDHR recognises the right to education.[1] It envisages free and compulsory education at the primary level and merit-based access to higher education for all. While recognising the prior right of parents to choose the kind of education provided to their children, it mandates that education shall promote “understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups.”[2]
The ICCPR does not spell out a right to education for children although it addresses the concern of parents to mould the morals and religion of their children through education. Article 18(4) recognises it as the liberty of the parents to ensure the “religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions.”[3]
Article 13 of the ICESCR recognises the right of everyone to education which shall be directed to the full development of the human personality with dignity and for strengthening respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.[4] While it recognises the right of parents to choose a school of their choice for their children, it also recognises the right of the State to set minimum standards for education provided in the schools.[5] Further, the Covenant mandates that based on the principle of free and compulsory education, States shall within a reasonable time work out a plan for its progressive implementation.[6]
The CRC provides under Article 28 recognises the right to free and compulsory primary education of a child.[7] Under Article 29(1) it envisages the education of the child to be such as to lead to the development of respect for its parents, its own ‘cultural identity, language and values’, the national values of the country where it lives, originate, and for civilizations different from his or her own. It must prepare the child to lead a “responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin.”[8] The ‘liberty of individuals and bodies to establish educational institutions’ is recognised under Article 29(2)[9] but is subject to the principles laid down in Article 29(1). The CRC is hence recognising the need to ensure education of children without education becoming a tool that creates in them a parochial mindset.
The United Nations 2030 Agenda[10] for Sustainable Development lists ‘Quality Education’ as Goal 4 on its list of 17 SDGs.[11] Made of 10 targets, Goal 4 envisages, under its first target to “… ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes” by the year 2030.[12] It envisages under it seventh target to ensure that education enables the learners to promote human rights, gender equality, a culture of peace and non-violence and the appreciation of cultural diversity among other objectives.[13]
The underlying theme of all these documents while recognising the right to education is that it must foster respect for human rights and promote global peace and security. To enable this high ideal to be achieved it is essential that man must think and act as a rational human being in the knowledge and belief that there cannot be any claim of superiority with respect to his beliefs and needs as compared to that of every other human being. No man can exercise such a rational choice unless he is free of all other shackles that ties him down in the name of religion, language, culture, or beliefs. Hence, in order to exercise the right of free choice as a rational human being, man must be educated in an empowering manner uninfluenced and independent of the inducements of every other interest other than that of the State. The State’s interest needs to be protected since it is the State which must guarantee that right and nothing shall be allowed to undermine that ability of the State.
Hence, for the success of right to education as envisaged, the human being must develop in an educational environment that instils and fosters libertarian values. As Swami Vivekananda has observed, “The will is not free – it is a phenomenon bound by cause and effect – but there is something behind the will which is free.”[14] We need to minimise the influence of everything on man’s ability to exercise his free will. In this we succeed only when the human being is empowered through education to exercise his free will guided by reason and not any other factor. Further, the Constitutional cause of the citizen putting the well-being of the nation first by respecting the human right of every other person and working rationally to create an egalitarian social order as his bounden duty can only be served if the human being is imparted an education which inculcates the scientific and rational values of human rights and nationhood. Children being legally recognised as without the mental capacity to decide issues rationally must hence be insulated from all other sectarian and parochial interests of all other agencies in the field of education that compete with or are against the State in their quest to capture the individual’s mind.[15]
Freedom of Choice as a Libertarian Value
Freedom to make choices is the hallmark of being free men and “free men are the product of a liberal education.”[16]
Internationally under the UDHR, Article 18, provides recognition to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion as a basic human right.[17] Article 19, UDHR, provides protection to hold opinions and communicate and propagate them.[18]
Under the ICCPR, there is recognition of a liberty to parents and legal guardians to provide for “religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions.”[19] Contrary to a libertarian point of view, coupled with the progressive infantilisation of young persons in the industrialised society, this implies that the future generations are allowed to be brainwashed into following their parents’ choice of religions and belief structures, without questioning. The inclusion of this aspect as a libertarian value is disturbing given its use in promoting and prolonging strife in the world. To ensure a truly egalitarian legal order, there must be reasonable attempts to restrict the ability of parents in the exercise of this liberty from poisoning (wittingly or unwittingly) the minds of their children about the superiority of any religious, political, or ideological faith or belief such that it clouds the rational thinking ability of the child. The ability of putting such restrictions must wholly be vested with the State in the interests of the right to education being made meaningful. This is a challenge in secular democracies like India which has a diverse religious base.[20]
Examination of the Indian Law
Though international recognition is afforded to the right to education, its meaning and content is wholly dependent on its recognition under the Constitution of India and its crystallisation in the Indian statutory law strengthened by the way the legal provisions are interpreted by the Indian judiciary, especially its Constitutional courts.
Constitutional Mandate on Right to Education
The essence of the Constitutional mandate on right to education is now traceable to Article 21A which provides for free and compulsory education of children from the age of six to fourteen years.[21] There is an argument that this is a very narrow way of providing a right to education since acquisition of education as a tool for empowerment becomes elusive if it is not acquired through the system of formal schooling dispensed under this system. The age group is generally able to only acquire primary and secondary education during the envisaged period and such education without the subsequent stage of higher secondary and tertiary education essentially does not empower anyone to lift themselves out of poverty much less stand on their own feet. Even the primary and secondary education that is available through the system lacks in quality and is a failure vis-à-vis the market requirements in terms essential skills to acquire a job.
On the other hand, as compared to the earlier system of education, the very existence of Article 21A is a radical and empowering political change with a mandate getting fixed on the State to provide empowerment through education. The radical strength provided by the Article should be channelised to make the system function in an effective manner and diligent application of the law should enable the availability of quality education that empowers the children under this provision.
The fundamental claims against the State in matters of education that are protected in favour of religious, linguistic and cultural minorities are found in Article 28[22], 29[23] and 30[24] of the Constitution of India. While Article 28 mandates that State funds shall not be used to promote any particular religious instruction, it protects those institutions created for providing religious instruction but which are administered by the State. It protects the individual’s liberty by preserving the aspect of consent from either the individual or in the case of minors from their guardians for being imparted religious instruction in any government recognised or government funded educational institution.
Article 29 provides that any section of the resident Indian citizens have the right to conserve their own distinct ‘language, script or culture’ and that no citizen shall be denied admission to educational institutions of the State or receiving State aid on the grounds of ‘religion, race, caste, or language’.
Article 30 preserves the right of religious and linguistic minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice and prevents discriminatory treatment to minority institutions in the grant of State aid.
For administrative delineation of powers, the Constitution of India provides for education in its Concurrent List allowing for both States and the Centre to legislate in the field.[25]
Hence it can be seen that there is a fundamental right in India against the State available for culturally distinct minorities for the conservation of their distinct ‘language, script or culture’, and for religious and linguistic minorities for non-discriminatory treatment in the grant of State aid and for establishment of educational institutions of their choice. Therefore, there is nothing per se under the Indian Constitutional scheme that prevents the State from assuming monopoly power with respect to ensuring that children are only imparted a secular education the content of which empowers them to make meaningful choices with respect to which religion or belief or ideology or culture they want to believe in, emulate or be proponents of after they become adults.
Implementing Right to Education as a Fundamental Right
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 translates the mandate under Article 21A of the Constitution into a functional reality.[26] It defines a ‘child’ to mean “a male or female child of the age of six to fourteen years”[27] and provides that a child “shall have the right to free and compulsory education in a neighbourhood school till the completion of” … “elementary education”.[28] Elementary education is defined to mean “education from first class to eighth class.”[29] The appropriate government and the local authority is cast the duty to “ensure good quality elementary education conforming to the standards and norms specified” and to “ensure timely prescribing of curriculum and courses of study for elementary education”.[30] The parents and guardians are also mandatorily duty bound to get their child or ward admitted for ‘elementary education in the neighbourhood school’.[31]
Free and compulsory education is to be provided only through recognised[32] schools and the academic authority is bound to frame the curriculum ensuring among other aspects, that it is in ‘conformity with the values enshrined in the Constitution’[33].
Here again there is nothing that prevents the State from providing in its schools (and ensuring that all schools provide) secular education that empowers a child to decide after it becomes an adult what religion or ideology or culture it wants to follow or preserve. Since the provision for free and compulsory education is the mandate of the State to be discharged through schools that are recognised, all that is required is to ensure that all such schools, whether under private or State management, must teach a uniform curriculum that leaves no scope for inclusion of any religious or linguistic or sectarian propaganda in it. It must also be ensured that such instruction is provided during regular working days and normal working hours leaving no scope for the children becoming available for being brainwashed on sectarian terms during the time.
Right to Education as a Directive Principle of State Policy
With the introduction of Article 21A, the nature of right to education as a directive principle of State policy was also modified. Article 45 was modified in such a way that the mandate of providing “free and compulsory education for all children up to the age of fourteen years” became a fundamental right. Article 45 itself was recast “to provide early childhood care and education for all children until they complete the age of six years.” Further, Article 5lA was amended to make it “the obligation of the parents to provide opportunities for education to their children.”[34]
The Judicial Attitude Towards the Right of Free Choice
The judiciary as an institution can at best be reactionary since its function is to respond to a dispute brought before it. Though an activist Indian judiciary has creatively shown itself to be capable of law making, it relies on its power of interpretation of laws, or its power of doing complete justice, or its power of declaring the law, to do such an exercise. In respect to the doctrine of separation of powers, it is best if the judiciary does not dictate legislative policy. It neither has the popular mandate and the necessary expertise, nor the purse strings to make it work.
Nevertheless, judicial pronouncements have a salutary effect on the legislature prompting subsequent legislation and creation of institutional remedial mechanisms.[35] Similarly, in the context of establishing an enforceable fundamental right to education, the role of the Indian judiciary is exemplary. Even before the manifestation of Article 21A by amendment to the Constitution of India, the judiciary had read in a fundamental right to education under Article 21[36] though subsequent judicial pronouncements[37] itself diluted the said right. While judicial interventions for establishing a right to education is significant, in the process, the judiciary has also strengthened the claim of partisan and parochial interests to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice under the protective cover of Articles 29 and 30.[38] Such protection has contributed towards a dilution of a national vision and has encouraged fissiparous tendencies in the country since school education has been used to promote regional identities at the cost of national identities, unhealthy language politics at the cost of creating a common indigenous link language and even poisonous religious one-upmanship that threatens the very concept of secularism in India.
Fundamental Right to Education – Individual Right versus Collective Rights
Diluting State’s secular control over education, the Right to Education Act was amended in 2012 to make the right to education subject to provisions of Articles 29 and 30 and to exclude “educational institutions primarily imparting religious instruction.”[39]
The main arguments for a secular education to be provided as a fundamental right as compared to a sectarian education is that it is the political State that is the guarantor of the fundamental rights an anything that harms the interest of the political State and compromises its ability to guarantee the full spectrum of fundamental rights must legitimately be subjected to reasonable restrictions for ensuring availability of all the fundamental rights. Personal liberty being the highest in the order of liberties, to ensure availability of any meaningful content to freedom of thought it becomes an imperative to empower the individual to be competent to exercise free choice and make informed decisions uninfluenced by any other vested interest other than the interest of the State. Hence, secular instruction must not end up as a parallel process but the singular feature of education available to the child. It must be given in the spirit of the Constitutional duties that mandates every citizen to develop a scientific temper. The secular education offered by the State should be such that the child grows into an empowered adult citizen capable of exercising a free choice in relation to freedom of thought, belief, and conscience. Hence, both in the interest of the State as well for the empowered exercise of the freedom of thought, it is imperative that only secular education is made available to any child as a fundamental right and as a human right.
The State must hence be free to pursue an objective of political nationalism through its educational system to keep at bay the fissiparous tendencies the fundamental rights under religious and cultural hues can create. It must pursue political nationalism in order to ensure the continued existence of the secular political order that upholds the essence of Articles 28, 29 and 30 of the Constitution of India.
Suggestions
To empower an individual to truly exercise free will in a rational manner and to promote respect for all people and their faiths, it is important that the State becomes duty bound to provide free and compulsory education in an environment uninfluenced by advocates of any political or religious ideology or belief. To achieve this, it becomes the bounden duty of the State to restrict the ability of any individual or organisation to influence and brain wash the young minor’s minds in prejudice to the exercise of free will when the child becomes an adult. Hence, any education provided to children should be secular in nature and should be through facilities provided by the State. To ensure equity and equality, such education must be uniform in their content and outlook. Articles 29 and 30 should be read as subservient to Article 21A and not as incorporated under Sections 1(4) and (5) by the amendment to the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. Only then will Indians be able to exercise their free will to choose their own faith, religion, or belief when they turn into adults. Once the brain washing of children into hatred perpetuating agents end, then the progress of India as a civilised nation shall begin.
* Associate Professor, National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi, Kerala.
[1] Article 26, UDHR reads – “1. Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit. 2. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace. 3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.”
[2] Article 26(2).
[3] Article 18(4) – “The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to have respect for the liberty of parents and, when applicable, legal guardians to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions.”
[4] “1. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to education. They agree that education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and the sense of its dignity, and shall strengthen the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. They further agree that education shall enable all persons to participate effectively in a free society, promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations and all racial, ethnic or religious groups, and further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace. 2. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize that, with a view to achieving the full realization of this right: (a) Primary education shall be compulsory and available free to all; (b) Secondary education in its different forms, including technical and vocational secondary education, shall be made generally available and accessible to all by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education; (c) Higher education shall be made equally accessible to all, on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education; (d) Fundamental education shall be encouraged or intensified as far as possible for those persons who have not received or completed the whole period of their primary education; (e) The development of a system of schools at all levels shall be actively pursued, an adequate fellowship system shall be established, and the material conditions of teaching staff shall be continuously improved. 3. The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to have respect for the liberty of parents and, when applicable, legal guardians to choose for their children schools, other than those established by the public authorities, which conform to such minimum educational standards as may be laid down or approved by the State and to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions. 4. No part of this article shall be construed so as to interfere with the liberty of individuals and bodies to establish and direct educational institutions, subject always to the observance of the principles set forth in paragraph I of this article and to the requirement that the education given in such institutions shall conform to such minimum standards as may be laid down by the State.”
[5] Articles 13(3) and (4).
[6] Article 14. “Each State Party to the present Covenant which, at the time of becoming a Party, has not been able to secure in its metropolitan territory or other territories under its jurisdiction compulsory primary education, free of charge, undertakes, within two years, to work out and adopt a detailed plan of action for the progressive implementation, within a reasonable number of years, to be fixed in the plan, of the principle of compulsory education free of charge for all.”
[7] Article 28 – “1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to education, and with a view to achieving this right progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity, they shall, in particular: (a) Make primary education compulsory and available free to all; (b) Encourage the development of different forms of secondary education, including general and vocational education, make them available and accessible to every child, and take appropriate measures such as the introduction of free education and offering financial assistance in case of need; (c) Make higher education accessible to all on the basis of capacity by every appropriate means; (d) Make educational and vocational information and guidance available and accessible to all children; (e) Take measures to encourage regular attendance at schools and the reduction of drop-out rates. 2. States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that school discipline is administered in a manner consistent with the child’s human dignity and in conformity with the present Convention. 3. States Parties shall promote and encourage international cooperation in matters relating to education, in particular with a view to contributing to the elimination of ignorance and illiteracy throughout the world and facilitating access to scientific and technical knowledge and modern teaching methods. In this regard, particular account shall be taken of the needs of developing countries.”
[8] Article 29 – “1. States Parties agree that the education of the child shall be directed to: (a) The development of the child’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential; (b) The development of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and for the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations; (c) The development of respect for the child’s parents, his or her own cultural identity, language and values, for the national values of the country in which the child is living, the country from which he or she may originate, and for civilizations different from his or her own; (d) The preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes, and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin; (e) The development of respect for the natural environment.”
[9] Article 29 – “2. No part of the present article or article 28 shall be construed so as to interfere with the liberty of individuals and bodies to establish and direct educational institutions, subject always to the observance of the principle set forth in paragraph 1 of the present article and to the requirements that the education given in such institutions shall conform to such minimum standards as may be laid down by the State.”
[10] https://www.sdg4education2030.org/the-goal. The agenda comprising of 17 SDGs is “a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity” with the goals considered as indivisible and encompassing “economic, social and environmental dimensions.”
[11] Goal 4 aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”
[12] https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda. Target 4.1.
[13] https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda. Target 4.7. “…ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.”
[14] Quote number three, http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/volume_5/sayings_and _utterances.htm
[15] See, for a contrarian view, Katherine Marshall, Education for All: Where does Religion come in?, Comparative Education, Vol. 46, No. 3, Special Issue (40): Education and Religion: Global Pressures, Local Responses, (AUGUST 2010), pp. 273-287.
[16] Robert B. Heilman, Education for Liberty: To What End?, Southwest Review, Vol. 27, No. 3 (SPRING, 1942), pp. 335-346, at 341, https://www.jstor.org/stable/43462729. One of the first duties of education is “to equip men and women to understand what freedom is and how it must be qualified to be meaningful and workable. They must learn that freedom means not merely freedom to pursue or acquire but freedom to reject, and that without rejection there is really no freedom at all. Then they must face the bigger problem: the principles by which one accepts or rejects, and here at last we are down to ultimate ends and meanings. Accepting or rejecting means making free choices; making free choices is the only sign of free men; and free men are the product of a liberal education.”
[17] “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”
[18] “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
[19] “The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to have respect for the liberty of parents and, when applicable, legal guardians to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions.”
[20] Ratna Ghosh, Education in Secular Democratic Societies: The Challenge of Religious Diversity, India International Centre Quarterly, Vol. 40, No. 3/4 (WINTER 2013 – SPRING 2014), pp. 86-101.
[21] Article 21A – “Right to education – The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of
the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as the State may, by law, determine.”
[22] Article 28 – “Freedom as to attendance at religious instruction or religious worship in certain educational Institutions – (1) No religious instruction shall be provided in any educational institution wholly maintained out of State funds. (2) Nothing in clause (1) shall apply to an educational institution which is administered by the State but has been established under any endowment or trust which requires that religious instruction shall be imparted in such institution. (3) No person attending any educational institution recognised by the State or receiving aid out of State funds shall be required to take part in any religious instruction that may be imparted in such institution or to attend any religious worship that may be conducted in such institution or in any premises attached thereto unless such person or, if such person is a minor, his guardian has given his consent thereto.”
[23] Article 29 – “Protection of interests of minorities – (1) Any section of the citizens residing in the territory of
India or any part thereof having a distinct language, script or culture of its own shall have the right to conserve the same. (2) No citizen shall be denied admission into any educational institution maintained by the State or receiving aid out of State funds on grounds only of religion, race, caste, language or any of them.”
[24] Article 30 – “Right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions – (1) All minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.”
[25] Constitution of India, Concurrent List (List III), Schedule VIII, Item 25 – “Education, including technical education, medical education and universities, subject to the provisions of Entries 63, 64, 65 and 66 of List I; vocational and technical training of labour.”
[26] An Act to “provide for free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years,” the statute became operational from 01.04.2010.
[27] The definition, though, is not gender inclusive.
[28] The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, Section 3(1).
[29] Section 2(f).
[30] Section 8(g) and (h) and Section 9(h) and (i), respectively.
[31] Section 10.
[32] Section 18.
[33] Section 29(2)(a).
[34] https://legislative.gov.in/constitution-eighty-sixth-amendment-act-2002.
[35] See Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan, https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1031794/; Chairman, Railway Board v. Chandrima Das, https://indiankanoon.org/doc/113663/.
[36] Unnikrishnan v. State, https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1775396/.
[37] TMA Pai Foundation v. State of Karnataka, https://indiankanoon.org/doc/512761/.
[38] See P.A. Inamdar v. State of Maharashtra, https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1390531/; TMA Pai Foundation v. State of Karnataka, https://indiankanoon.org/doc/512761/.
[39] Sections 1(4) and (5) were inserted with effect from 01.08.2012 by Section 2 of Act 30 of 2012. “(4) Subject to the provisions of articles 29 and 30 of the Constitution, the provisions of this Act shall apply to conferment of rights on children to free and compulsory education. (5) Nothing contained in this Act shall apply to Madrasas, Vedic Pathsalas and educational institutions primarily imparting religious instruction.”