No citizen or institution has a fundamental right to affiliation or recognition: SC

The Supreme Court on 23 July 2015 held that fundamental right given under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution does not give an institution or a person or a citizen the fundamental right to affiliate or recognition of their institutions within the meaning of the Article 19(6).

Article 19(6) providing for reasonable restrictions on fundamental rights reads, “Nothing in the 19(1)(g) shall prevent the State from making a law with respect to providing necessary professional or technical qualification for practising any profession or carrying on any occupation, trade or business.”

On the other hand, Article 19(1)(g) says that the citizens have been conferred the right to practice any profession or carry on any occupation, trade or business.

The decision of the SC bench comprising of Justice MY Eqbal and Justice Arun Mishra relied on 1993 judicial case which said that “education has always been treated in this country as religious and charitable activity and making it commercial is opposed to the ethos, tradition and sensibilities of this nation. A citizen of this country may have a right to establish an educational institution but no citizen, person or institution has a right, much less of fundamental right, to affiliation or recognition.”

The ruling was given by the apex court while dismissing a plea of the Kerala-based DM Wayanad Institute of Medical Sciences and others.

The petitioners had approached the Supreme Court against the decisions of the Medical Council of India and the Central Government to refuse to recommend renewal of permissions for admitting students for MBBS course at their institute for the academic year 2015-16 following adverse inspection reports.

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