Supreme Court issues notice to education secretary on religious education plea

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court issued notice to Union Education Secretary TK Anil Kumar over a contempt petition filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay. The petition alleged that the Education Secretary had failed to take a decision on his representation seeking regulation of institutions imparting religious education to children below 14 years of age, despite an earlier direction from the Supreme Court.

A two-judge bench, comprising Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Sheel Nagu, decided to list the matter after four weeks, opting not to require the Education Secretary's personal appearance.

Upadhyay's representation seeks to register and monitor institutions providing both secular and religious education to children under the age of 14. He alleged that thousands of unregistered institutions are radicalizing young children under the guise of religious instruction, posing serious concerns for internal security, fraternity, unity, and national integration. Upadhyay contended that such institutions could potentially brainwash children in the name of religion.

The petitioner further sought a direction that semi-religious minority and non-minority educational institutions could not claim protection under Article 30 of the Constitution. He argued that Article 30 is a specific reference to Article 19(1)(g) and does not provide additional rights for religious educational institutions. According to Upadhyay, the expression "educational institutions of their choice" under Article 30(a) refers only to secular or professional educational institutions, not religious ones.