KOCHI: No school that requires recognition from the state government under Right to Education (RTE) Act has the right to impart religious instruction of one religion alone, the high court has held. The court also said the government’s approval is required even for teaching religious pluralism.Justice A Muhamed Mustaque gave the ruling on a plea by Hidaya Educational and Charitable Trust of Thiruvananthapuram challenging government’s decision to close down the school as it promotes exclusive religious instruction.In the judgment, the court said, “Exclusivism or preference of one religion over others by State or public functionaries or private bodies, while discharging public functions, strikes at the very root of the fundamental values of our Constitution , namely, secularism. It negates neutrality, promotes discrimination and denies equal treatment. Private schools which are required to have recognition from State must not promote one religion over others. The exclusive promotion of a particular religion by private educational institutions defies the secular character of the Constitution...”Differentiating between the right of a person or a group and that of a group discharging public function, the judgment said, “An individual or a group or a denomination have the freedom to express and to promote and practice their religion. That freedom is not available to a private body while discharging a public function. In a pluralist society like India, which accepts secularism as the basic norm in governing secular activities including education, there cannot be any difficulty in imparting religious instruction or study based on religious pluralism. What is prohibited is exclusivism.”Rights of minorities under the Constitution do not allow them to dilute the secular nature of education, the court said. Pointing out that RTE Act mandates that the curriculum and evaluation procedure should be as laid down by the state government, the court said, “In such circumstances, no school which is required to have recognition shall impart any religious instruction or religious study without permission from the State Government.”