Article 30 — Right of Minorities to Establish Educational Institutions

(1) All minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.

(1A) In making any law providing for the compulsory acquisition of any property of an educational institution established and administered by a minority, referred to in clause (1), the State shall ensure that the amount fixed by or determined under such law for the acquisition of such property is such as would not restrict or abrogate the right guaranteed under that clause.

(2) The State shall not, in granting aid to educational institutions, discriminate against any educational institution on the ground that it is under the management of a minority, whether based on religion or language.

Source: Constitution of India, as published by the Ministry of Law and Justice.

The most contested question under Article 30 has been the extent to which the state can regulate minority educational institutions — particularly on admissions, service conditions, and fee structures. In T. M. A. Pai Foundation v. State of Karnataka (2002), an eleven-judge bench held that the right to administer does not mean the right to maladminister, and that the state can regulate to maintain academic standards and prevent commercialisation. The question of whether Article 30 applies to institutions that are minority-established but majority-administered — such as Aligarh Muslim University — has generated continuous litigation, including a 2024 Supreme Court reference to a seven-judge bench.

• 44th Amendment (1978) — Inserted clause (1A) protecting property of minority educational institutions from undervalued compulsory acquisition.

• Article 15
• Article 29
• Article 19

Last reviewed: 1 July 2026