Article 29 of Indian Constitution: Protection of Interests of Minorities

What 29(1) means

• Three things are protected: a distinct language (e.g. Urdu, Konkani, Santali), a distinct script (e.g. Gurmukhi, Ol Chiki, Devanagari) and a distinct culture (customs, festivals, dress, music).
• "Section of citizens", not "minority": the word minority appears only in the heading. A group that is a majority in India can still be a small section in some State, and any section is covered. Courts read 29(1) in this broad way.
• The right includes agitating for one's language: in Jagdev Singh Sidhanti v. Pratap Singh Daulta (1965) the Court said the right to conserve a language includes the right to campaign for its protection, including in an election.
• Script matters too: in D.A.V. College v. State of Punjab (1971) the Court struck down a university rule that made Punjabi in the Gurmukhi script the only medium, because it affected the right of other sections to conserve their own script. The Court also said that, for a State law, minority status is judged against that State's population.
• 29(1) is a right of conservation, not of domination: it does not let one group stop another group from using its language.

• Which institutions: only those maintained by the State or receiving aid out of State funds. A purely private unaided institution is not covered by 29(2).
• Which grounds: religion, race, caste, language, or any of them. The word "only" matters: admission can still depend on merit, marks, age or residence.
• Not in 29(2): sex and place of birth. Those are grounds in Article 15(1), which covers all State discrimination. So a government women's college does not break 29(2), and Article 15(3) allows special provisions for women anyway.
• It is an individual right of every citizen, majority or minority.

Champakam Dorairajan and the First Amendment

• The Madras government's Communal G.O. fixed seats in medical and engineering colleges community by community (for example, so many for non-Brahmin Hindus, Brahmins, Muslims, Christians).
• In State of Madras v. Champakam Dorairajan (9 April 1951) the Supreme Court struck it down under Article 29(2): seats were denied on the ground of caste and religion. The Court also said Directive Principles (Article 46) cannot override Fundamental Rights.
• Parliament responded with the First Amendment 1951, adding Article 15(4): special provisions for socially and educationally backward classes, SCs and STs. Later, Article 15(5) (2005) covered admissions in private institutions too, except minority institutions under Article 30(1).

Balance with Article 30

• A minority college that takes State aid is bound by 29(2). Yet Article 30(1) lets it serve its own community.
• In St. Stephen's College v. University of Delhi (1992) the Court balanced the two: an aided minority college may prefer students of its own community up to about 50% of seats, and the rest must be open to all on merit.
• In T.M.A. Pai Foundation (2002) the 11-judge bench said there is no fixed ratio: the State may fix a reasonable share for non-minority students, keeping in view the type of institution and local needs.

• The two Articles work as a pair: 29(1) protects culture, and 30(1) gives minorities the main tool to protect it, their own schools and colleges.
• But they are independent: a minority institution under Article 30 need not teach only its own language or religion. It can give ordinary secular education (Kerala Education Bill, 1958).
• Article 15(1) vs 29(2): 15(1) binds the State in everything and includes sex and place of birth; 29(2) is only about admission to State-run or aided institutions, but it includes language, which 15(1) does not.

• The Constitution does not define "minority". Article 29 does not even use the word in its text; Article 30 speaks of minorities "based on religion or language".
• Religious minorities (national list): under Section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992, the Central Government notifies them. Five were notified on 23 October 1993 (Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis) and Jains on 27 January 2014.
• For Article 30, the Supreme Court in T.M.A. Pai Foundation (2002) held that religious and linguistic minorities are to be counted State-wise.
• Whether Hindus and other groups who are fewer in some States should get minority status there is the subject of the Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay petition, pending before the Supreme Court. The full discussion is on the Article 30 page.
• Linguistic minorities also have Articles 350A (primary education in the mother tongue) and 350B (Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities), added by the 7th Amendment 1956, and Article 347 (official recognition of a language spoken by a section of a State's people).