‘ RTE infringes on pvt school rights’

One of the Supreme Court judge giving a dissenting verdict on the RTE Act has left the scope for private unaided schools, vociferously opposing the provision of free education to 25 per cent poor students, to seek review of the verdict.

Lawyers for some private schools soon after the pronouncement even indicated that they might go for a review as the dissenting judgement has strength- ened their case. Dissenting Judge K. S. Radhakrishnan cited various provisions of the Constitution to hold that the provisions of the RTE Act could not be made applicable to the private institutions not getting any financial aid form government. Neither could the law be extended to the similarly placed minority institutions. “No distinction or difference can be drawn between unaided minority and non- minority schools with regard to appropriation of quota by the State or its reservation policy under section 12( 1)( c) of the Act,” Justice Radhakrishnan ruled adding that enforcing the law on private un- aided schools would amount to violation of Constitution’s Article 19( 6), which guarantees any individual or society to run a professional institution.

Similarly, extending the law to the minority schools getting no aid is tantamount to violation of Article 30( 1), which gives minorities a special right to establish educational institutions “exclusively” for their children. However, the exclusive right of minorities to establish schools for their children was recognised by the majority judges — CJI S. H. Kapadia and Swatanter Kumar — also provided such institutions were not getting any aid from the government. Justice Radhakrishnan said the duty was entirely on the government to establish sufficient number of neighbourhood schools.