Date of judgment:
4th January 2022
Bench:
Justice Dinesh Mehta
Parties:
Appellant – School Development Management Committee Shri Hari Singh Sr. Sec. School, Pilwa
Respondent – State of Rajasthan
Subject
A plea was filed by the School Development Management Committee for setting aside the order passed by the State Government which asked the School to convert into an English medium School. However the petition was allowed by the High Court.
Legal Provisions
- Article 19(1)(a) of Constitution of India – Guarantees right of freedom of speech and expression.
- Clause (2) of Article 19 of Constitution of India – gives authority to government to impose reasonable restriction on freedom of speech.
- Section 29 (2)(f) of Right to Education Act 2009 – medium of instruction should be preferably in child’s mother tongue.
- Article 254 of Constitution of India – gives parliament the power to make laws and legislative to repeal them.
Overview
- Shri Hari Singh Sr. Sec. School, Pilwa was working since 1980 in village Pilwa. This school has been educating almost 600 students including girls from that village as well as nearby villages.
- Since the day the school started functioning, its medium of language was ‘Hindi’. In September 2021, the Director, Secondary Education directed conversion of 345 Government Schools to English medium (Mahatma Gandhi Government Schools) which also included the name of this particular school.
- However, the School Development Management Committee had objection regarding this hence they move to the High Court challenging the decision of State Government.
- Taking into note the factual matrix of the case, the Court noted down 5 questions, one of them is dealt here.
Issue
- Whether right to education in mother tongue or in Hindi is a Fundamental Right.
Judgment Analysis
- Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution talks about freedom of speech and expression and it also relates with right to education in a desiring language. It gives the right to take education in a language which a person prefers.
- The Court referred to the judgment in the case of State of Karnataka &Anr v Associated Management of English Medium Primary & Secondary Schools & Ors 2014, where it was held that right to get education in a particular language or in a preferred medium is protected under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India.
- However the Court clarified that the right to have education in a particular language is also subject to some reasonable restrictions given under clause (2) of Article 19 of Constitution of India.
- Hence the Court stated that the State can prescribe a particular medium of instruction taking into account the socio-economic factors and overall development of the child.
- The Court pointed out that the policy of Rajasthan Government was simply administrative in nature and not a law and hence it cannot be said that it is a reasonable restriction under clause (2) of Article 19 of Constitution of India.
- The Court held that the policy of the State government should be quashed and set aside as it cannot hamper the fundamental right of a child to get education in a particular language or medium which is assured under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India.
Conclusion
Section 29 (2)(f) of Right to Education Act 2009gives right of having elementary education in a particular mother tongue which is also a statutory right. As per this section the medium of instruction should be preferably in the child’s mother tongue.
The Court also noted that the power to frame laws in the subject of education is found in the concurrent list of the Constitution of India's VII Schedule, and since the RTE Act deals with education and mandates that the medium of instruction in elementary school be in the child's mother tongue/home language as far as practicable, any law made or framed by the State without the President's assent would be repugnant by virtue of Article 254 of the Constitution of India.
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