State may interfere in interest of students: A-G

NEW DELHI: Attorney-General Soli Sorabjee, as expected, on Thursday told the Supreme Court that minority’s right under Article 30 to establish and run educational institutions was absolute, but conceded that the State could interfere in the interest of students and teachers. According to an agency report, Sorabjee who appeared as Attorney-General but not for the Centre said “the fundamental right of administration of minority educational institutions under Article 30, on its terms and language, is absolute�. He qualified this by saying that the apex court’s consistent stand that no right was absolute would apply to Article 30. Sorabjee said “regulations which will serve the interests of students and teachers, and preserve the uniformity in standards of education among the affiliated institutions could be made.� Sorabjee’s views were at variance with that of the government. Solicitor-General Harish Salve had contended last week that in the constitutional framework, 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. But with Sorabjee, too, agreeing that the State can intervene in the interests of students and teachers, the gap between his position and the government’s appear to have narrowed. Sorabjee said minority educational institutions “management must be free from control. Any interference which erodes that rightaffects the autonomy... and would be impermissible under Article 30.�