Minority institutes can’t admit students under RTE even if they want to: Bombay HC

A division bench of Justices Mangesh S Patil and Shailesh P Brahme on August 14 passed a verdict in pleas by Izak English Medium School and Anand Medical and Education Foundation, two self-financed English medium primary schools in Ahmednagar district who claimed that till the academic year 2019-20, they were allowed to admit students under RTE quota. They challenged February 2020 communication by the Block Education officer informing them that names of their schools were removed from the RTE portal.

The petitioners challenged the said communication/letter and claimed that being minority institutes they cannot be compelled to admit students under 25 % RTE quota, however, if they are voluntarily coming forward to admit them, it would be unconstitutional not to allow such schools to do so.

One of the petitioners (Izak school) also sought that their dues for academic years prior to 2019-20, when they were permitted to admit students under RTE quota, shall be reimbursed.

They also challenged the constitutional validity of section 12 (b) (schools eligible under RTE Act) of the RTE Act along with the Rules framed under it in 2011, claiming that such provisions were violative of their constitutional rights under Articles 14 (Right to equality before law), 19(1), and 30 (1) ( Right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions) of the Constitution.

However, the bench noted that the Supreme Court in a past judgement in Pramati Educational and Cultural Trust case, held the RTE Act itself was ultra vires of Article 30(1) of the Constitution, therefore minority institutes cannot be permitted to be eligible under RTE Act. “Therefore, even if minority institutions are ready and willing (to admit students under RTE reservation), allowing them to do so could be only by making the provisions of the RTE Act applicable to them, which in itself is prohibited by virtue of the declaration (by SC),” the bench noted.

Rejecting the pleas, the bench however, noted that till the impugned letter, the petitioners were allowed to admit students and they would be entitled to reimbursement of their dues “when it is not their fault as the students were sent to their schools under the assumption that the provision of the RTE Act are applicable to them.” The court directed the government to conduct scrutiny of the claim by Izak English Medium school and reimburse its dues within six weeks thereafter.