A church official in the southern Indian State of Kerala has welcomed a direction from the state’s High Court for privately run schools not to impart religious education without government permission. The court ruled on whether schools unaided by the state can promote a particular religion to the exclusion of other religions in elementary schools.

“It is a welcome order and the government needs to know what kind of religious education is being imparted in a private school,” said Father Varghese Vallikkatt, deputy secretary-general of the regional body of Catholic bishops in Kerala.

The court had considered a petition from Hidaya Educational and Charitable Trust, a Muslim body that runs several schools in the state. It challenged the state shutting down one of its schools on grounds that it promoted exclusive religious instruction and admitted only Muslim students, violating India’s secular principles.