Wednesday 7 May 2014

2014: Supreme Court on Right To Education (RTE)

2014 : Supreme Court on Right To Education 


Hon'ble Supreme Court has upheld the Right to Education in case of all Private Schools except the minority schools (aided or unaided).


Personal Interpretation to the best of understanding:


1. Article 21A of the Constitution, provides that the State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as the State may, by law, determine. 



2. Parliament has made the law contemplated by Article 21A by enacting the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (for short ‘the 2009 Act’). 

3. The constitutional validity of the 2009 Act was considered by a three-Judge Bench of the Apex Court in Society for Unaided Private Schools of Rajasthan v. Union of India & Anr. [(2012) 6 SCC 1]. Two of the three Judges had held the 2009 Act to be constitutionally valid, but they have also held that the 2009 Act is not applicable to unaided minority schools protected under Article 30(1)
of the Constitution. In the aforesaid case, however, the three-Judge Bench did not go into the question whether clause (5) of Article 15 or Article 21A of the Constitution is valid and does not violate the basic structure of the Constitution.

4. The Hon'ble Supreme Court has now held that 2009 Act is not ultra vires Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution for Private (non-minority schools)as it did not find any merit in the submissions made on behalf of the non-minority private schools that Article 21A of the Constitution and the 2009 Act violate their right under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution.

5. However, for minority schools aided or unaided, the Hon'ble Supreme Court has held that "2009 Act in so far as it applies to minority schools, aided or unaided, covered under clause (1) of Article 30 of the Constitution is ultra vires the Constitution".  If the 2009 Act is made applicable to minority schools, aided or unaided, the right of the minorities under Article 30(1) of the Constitution will be abrogated. Therefore, the 2009 Act in so far it is made applicable to minority schools referred in clause (1) of Article 30 of the Constitution is ultra vires the Constitution

PS: Above are personal interpretations. We do not accept any liability arising out of use of above information. Users are advised to apply their own thoughts and experience in above case.

Case Number: 
Writ Petition (Civil) No.416 of 2012

Case Title:
Pramati Educational & Cultural Trust & Ors. Versus Union of India & Ors.



Bench:
Hon'ble CJI. R.M. Lodha

Hon'ble Justice A. K. Patnaik

Hon'ble Sudhansu Jyoti Mukhopadhaya
Hon'ble Justice Dipak Misra
Hon'ble Justice Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla

Date of Judgement: 
06th May 2014

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