A Tamil Nadu-based educational organisation has moved the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Centre to issue a notification to identify linguistic minorities, like religious ones, as units for granting benefits in running academic institutions.
Citizens Education Society, which runs schools for Malayalam-speaking linguistic minority students in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, has sought to intervene as a party in a pending PIL on grant of minority benefits to Hindus in 10 states including Punjab and Mizoram.
The apex court, in August last year, had issued notice to the Centre on a PIL filed by lawyer and BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay seeking directions for framing of guidelines identifying minorities at the state level claiming that the Hindus are in a minority in 10 states and still they cannot avail benefits available to minorities like Muslims, Sikhs and Christians in running educational institutions.
“Direct the Respondent-Union of India to issue a notification under 2(f) of National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions Act, 2004 notifying linguistic and religious minority communities in respective states as a unit, in conformity with the law declared by this Hon''ble Court in case of in T.M.A. Pai Foundation ...,” the Tamil Nadu-based society said in its plea.
Referring to the constitutional scheme of Article 30, the plea said that it, being the linguistic minority in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, should get the benefits available to religious minorities in these states.
“Article 30 of the Constitution protects the interests of minorities, based on religion as well as language, and inheres in them the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. It is well-settled that Article 30(1) cannot be read in a narrow and pedantic sense and being a fundamental right, it should be given its widest amplitude," it said.