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2007 Supreme(Mad) 2652
High Court of Judicature at Madras
THE HONOURABLE CHIEF JUSTICE MR. A.P. SHAH & THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE D. MURUGESAN
K.R. Ramaswamy @ Traffic Ramaswamy & Another
Versus
State rep.by Special Officer Chief Ministers Special Cell Government of Tamil Nadu & Others
W.P. Nos.33953 of 2006, 7879 and 10661 of 2006
Decided On : 23-08-2007
Headnote:A) CONSTITUTION OF INDIA - ARTICLE 226 - Writ of declaration praying for declaring Tamil Nadu Act No.13 of 2006 (The Tamil Nadu Tamil Learning Act, 2006) unconstitutional in so far as petitioners were concerned - Act intended to make learning of Tamil in all schools in Tamil Nadu in Standards I to X compulsory by making Tamil as a compulsory subject.
B) CONSTITUTION OF INDIA - ARTICLE 226 - Public Interest Litigation - As the petitioner in the PIL did not challenge the Act 13 of 2006 as well as the circular which was issued pursuant to the Act and the Court cannot by directions amend the provisions of the Act, writ petition dismissed (Para 6).
C) CONSTITUTION OF INDIA - ARTICLR 19(1)(g) - Right under this Article includes right to establish and administer Educational institution but such right is subject to Article 19(6) whereby it is subject to existing laws and any law made by the State to impose reasonable restriction in the interest of public (Para 8).
D) CONSTITUTION OF INDIA - ARTICLE 29(1) and 30(1) - Rights guaranteed to the Minorities concerning their cultural and educational rights, their language culture and religion - The right under Article 30(1) is subject to regulation made by State in the interest of efficiency of instruction, discipline, health, morality, public order and the like as upheld by the Apex Court in AIR 1963 SC 540 (Para 12).
E) Minority Educational Institutions - State has right to make regulations in the true interest of efficiency or instruction after satisfying the dual tests of reasonableness and minority institution not losing their character - AIR 1999 SC 50 referred (Para 13).
F) CONSTITUTION OF INDIA - Articles 29 & 30 and Article 350-A - Whether making the regional language a compulsory subject by the State is violative of the said Articles of the Constitution - No - (1994) 1 SCC 550 referred in which Apex Court held that it is a matter of policy of the State to bring about academic discipline as a regulatory measure and it is not for the Court to interfere - (2004) 67 SCC 264 also referred - The Apex Court held that the larger interest of the State was taken into account by the State as the official and common business are carried on in that State in Marathi and that a particular State can validly take a policy decision to compulsorily teach its regional language (Para 15 & 16).
G) Whether State can make Tamil as compulsory subject from Standard I in all schools - Yes - Tamil has become the home language as well as a dominant language of the State irrespective of their community - Children begin to develop reasoning skills as early as seventh month of age and Adaptive intelligence for a child is possible even at the inception of schooling - Introduction of the dominant language increases the child’s learning capacity and communicative skills. (Paras 19, 21, 22, 26, 27 and 28).
H) TAMILNADU TAMIL LEARNING ACT, 2006 - Brings about 3 language formula - while making Tamil compulsory, does not restrict the minority students to learn their mother tongue as well - Hence, no infringement of Article 30(1) (Para 31).
I) TAMILNADU TAMIL LEARNING ACT, 2006 - The introduction of Tamil as compulsory subject is for standard I from academic year 2006-2007 and those students will learn Tamil as compulsory subject upto X standard - It is in a phased manner and are not over burdened and can learn case. (Para 34)
J) Policy decision of the State to make Tamil compulsory is not unreasonable and it is only in the interest of the children of the State as the official and common business of the State is carried on in Tamil (Para 36).
H) Tamil Nadu Tamil Learning Act, 2006 is not violative of Article 29(1) and 30(1) of the constitution of India - It does not take away the right to use their mother tongue as medium of instruction nor it makes the minority institutions lose their character - Writ petitions dismissed (Para 38).
D. Murugesan, J.
In order to ensure that all students studying in standards I to X in all schools in the State to learn Tamil as compulsory subject, the Government of Tamil Nadu, as a policy, enacted the Tamil Nadu Tamil Learning Act, 2006 (Act No.13 of 2006) (hereinafter referred to as the "Act"), which received the assent of the Governor on the 9th June, 2006, and published in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette Extraordinary on 12th June, 2006. The relevant provisions of the "Act" read as follows:
Section 2(e) of the Act defines a "school" as meaning,--
(i) any Primary School, Middle School, High School or Higher Secondary School maintained by the State or Local Bodies; or
(ii) any Primary School, Middle School, High School or Higher Secondary School established and administered or maintained by any private educational agency including minority school established and administered under clause (1) of Article 30 of the Constitution, whether receiving aid out of the State fund or not; or
(iii) any Nursery and Primary School, Matriculation School, Anglo-Indian School or Oriental School including minority school established and administered under clause
(1) of Article 30 of the Constitution, whether receiving aid out of the State fund or not; or
(iv) such other school as may be notified by the Government in this behalf. Explanation.--For the purpose of this clause,--
(i) Nursery and Primary School shall consist of standards L.K.G. to V;
(ii) Primary School shall consist of standards I to V;
(iii) Middle School shall consist of standards I to VIII or standards VI to VIII;
(iv) High School shall consist of standards I to X or VI to X or IX and X;
(v) Higher Secondary School shall consist of students I to XII, VI to XII or IX to XII. Section 3(1) Tamil shall be taught as a subject in standards I to X in all schools; in a phased manner, commencing from the academic year 2006-2007 for standard I, from the academic year 2007-2008 for standards I and II and shall be extended upto X standard in a like manner.
(2) For the purpose of sub-section (1), the pattern of education shall be as follows:
Part-I Tamil (Compulsory)
Part-II English (Compulsory)
Part-III Other Subjects (Mathematics, Science, Social Science, etc.)
Part-IV Students who do not have either Tamil or English as their mother tongue can study their mother tongue as an optional subject.
2. Pursuant to the Act, the Director of Elementary Education issued the Circular in Na.Ka.No.18640/F1/06 dated 16. 2006 directing all the District Chief Educational Officers, District Educational Officers, District Elementary Educational Officers, Inspectors of Matriculation Schools, Educational Officers of Anglo-Indian Schools, Educational Officers of Corporation Schools, Assistant Elementary Educational Officers and other Educational Officers to implement the policy decision of the Government in a phased manner from the academic year 2006-2007.
3. One Mr. K.R. Ramaswamy alias Traffic Ramaswamy has filed W.P.No.33953 of 2006 seeking for a direction to the respondents to make necessary changes in the proceedings of the Director of Elementary Education dated 17.06.06 in order to safe guard the interest of the minorities. Likewise, Kanyakumari District Malayala Samajam and Kanyakumari District Nair Service Society have filed the W.P.Nos.7879 & 10661 of 2006 respectively seeking for issue of Writ of Declaration, declaring the Act is ultra vires of the Constitution of India.
4. In nutshell, the petitioners are challenging the provisions of the Act on the grounds viz., (i) that the Act is a colourable legislation intended with mala fide intention to take away the rights of linguistic minorities to use their mother tongue as the medium of instruction, which is in contravention of Article 29 of the Constitution; (ii) that the impugned Act curtails the unfettered right guaranteed on the minority institutions under Article 30 of the Constitution to establish and administer educational institu
