New Delhi: The Supreme Court today sought
the Centre's response on a petition challenging the Right to
Free and Compulsory Education Act as being "unconstitutional"
and violating fundamental rights of unaided private
educational institutions.
A bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice
Deepak Verma initially directed the petitioner Society for
Un-aided Private Schools, Rajasthan to approach the High
Court, but later issued notice to the HRD Ministry after
senior counsel Harish Salve submitted the issue concerned the
entire nation.
Under the Act free and compulsory education was made a
fundamental right for children between 6-14 years and it
mandated that even private educational institutions have to
reserve 25 per cent of the seats for children from poor
families.
The petition claimed that the impugned Act violated
the rights of private educational institutions under
Article 19(1)(g) which mandated maximum autonomy to private
managements to run their institutions without governmental
interference.
It recalled the 11-judge Constitution Bench ruling of
the Supreme Court in the TMA Pai case wherein it was ruled
that maximum autonomy should be provided to private
educational institutions.
According to the petition Section 3 of the Act imposed
an absolute mandate upon all schools including private unaided
and minority institutions to admit without any choice each and
every child whosoever comes to take admission in the said
schools in the neighbourhood.
-PTI
First Published: Monday, March 22, 2010, 23:51