The Bombay High Court on Friday quashed a notification issued by the Maharashtra government exempting private schools located within a one-kilometre radius of government or aided schools from adhering to reservations in admissions under the Right to Education Act, The Indian Express reported.
A division bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar passed the judgement while hearing a petition filed by the managements of aided schools and parents, among others.
The bench said that the February 9 notification of the Maharashtra government on the exemption was “ultra vires” to Article 21 of the Constitution and the provisions of the Right to Education Act, PTI reported. Article 21 pertains to the protection of life and personal liberty.
The Act mandates the reservation of 25% of the seats in private unaided schools at the entry level – Class 1 or the pre-primary section – for children from economically weaker and disadvantaged sections.
The government reimburses the tuition fees of these students, which allows them to get their education free of cost at these schools.
On May 6, the court stayed the implementation of the notification, Live Law reported.
On Friday, the bench noted that a few private unaided schools had admitted students before it had stayed the implementation of the notification, PTI reported.
These admissions would not be disturbed, the court said. However, schools must ensure that the 25% quota for seats under the Act are filled, it added.
In the court, Senior Advocate Gayatri Singh, representing the petitioners, had contended that the February 9 notification providing the exemption should be stayed as it was unconstitutional and was contrary to the Right to Education Act.
However, Additional Government Pleader Jyoti Chavan, representing the state government, said that the apprehension shown by the petitioners was not appropriate and that the notification applied only to unaided private schools situated in areas where there was a government or aided school.
The court on Friday said that the matter contained “overwhelming public interest” and held that the impugned amendments contravened the Act, The Indian Express reported.
“The notification is held to be null and void,” it added.
The court also set aside circulars issued by the state government on March 6 and April 3 on the implementation of its February 9 notification.
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