SC Seeks Response From Central Govt, State Govt And UTs On PIL Seeking Enforcement Of RTE Act

The Supreme Court on Monday seeks the Central Government’s, 15 States’ and Union Territories’ responses to a petition seeking enforcement of the Section 12(1)(c) of the Right to Education Act.

A bench of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna issued notice to the respondents after hearing Senior Advocate Salman Khurshid who appeared on behalf of the petitioners.

Notice was specifically issued on the prayer seeking the implementation of Section 12(1)(c) of the Act, which requires unaided private schools to reserve 25% of entry-level seats for economically weaker sections of society. The prayer was sought in light of the withdrawal of the minority pre-matric scholarship schemes.

The petitioner stated that the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Sikkim, Telangana, West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jammu and Kashmir, Puducherry, and Ladakh have not implemented the aforementioned provision.

According to Khurshid, it is the responsibility of the state/union territory to ensure that private schools follow the mandate of the Act.

During an earlier hearing of the case (last month), the Supreme Court highlighted that India is a secular country and asked the petitioner why he had taken up the cause of the Right To Education only with respect to minority communities.

“Why have you taken up the cause of the minority while ignoring the majority? Why have you concentrated your efforts solely on the minority? When religion is important, it is important. Otherwise, we are a secular country”, Joseph had made a remark to Justice.

Therefore, the Court granted the petitioner the right to file a new petition after withdrawing the previous one. The instant plea was then filed with the necessary modifications. The petition was drawn by and filed through advocates Ayush Negi and Nandini Garg.