Earlier apex court had exempted only unaided institutions from 25% quota for the poor
Any minority-run school will not be bound to admit students under the Right to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act. The Supreme Court on Tuesday held that both aided and unaided minority schools cannot be forced under the RTE law to reserve 25 per cent seats for economically disadvantaged children as it threatened to destroy or alter the minority character of these institutions.
The SC judgement now exempts the aided-minority schools too from following the mandatory RTE provision. A three-judge SC Bench had earlier not extended the benefit to the aided minority schools. while doing so for their unaided counterparts.
The court was dealing with a petition filed by Muslim Minority Schools Managers’ Association and 11 other petitioners who had questioned the three-judge Bench’s decision of September 6, 2010.
The Bench unanimously upheld the validity of the RTE Act but specifically held it to be invalid with regard to minorities. “We hold that the 2009 Act insofar as it applies to minority schools, aided or unaided, covered under clause (1) of Article 30 (right of minorities) of the Constitution is ultra vires the Constitution…In our view, 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...
We are thus of the view that the majority judgement of this Court in.. insofar as it holds that the 2009 Act is applicable to aided minority schools is not correct.” However, the court refused to permit the same relief to private unaided schools, who argued that complying with the RTE provisions would bring down the high standards of excellence and education maintained by them.
The Bench, comprising CJI RM lodha, Justices AK Patnaik, SJ Mukhopadhaya, Dipak Misra, and FM Ibrahim Kalifulla, said educational institutions in India such as Kendriya Vidyalayas, Indian Institute of Technology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences and Government Medical Colleges admit students in seats reserved for backward classes and still these Government institutions have produced excellent students who have grown up to be good administrators, academicians, scientists, engineers, doctors and the like.”
This was sufficient for the court to demolish the argument by the private unaided schools who said that since they maintained a level of excellence, admission to backward classes of citizens - SCs and STs would compromise on standards of education. The bench reminded the private schools of the Preamble of Constitution that promised to secure to all citizens ‘fraternity.