The Allahabad High Court observed that private schools cannot refuse admission to children from weaker sections or disadvantaged groups citing trivial issues once they have been included in the list prepared by the government under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act).

"It is the responsibility of the Private Unaided Schools to participate in nation building exercise by providing equal opportunity of education to disadvantaged children through affirmative action as prescribed in RTE Act, 2009," the Bench said.

The Single-Judge Bench of Justice Alok Mathur emphasized that schools lack the authority to challenge or appeal the list sent by the government for the admission of such children.

The Court ruled that once the State provides the list, schools are obligated to immediately admit the children, with no discretion to deny them entry. "The aspect of scrutinizing the applications and selecting the students for admission has been tasked to the authority as provided for under the RTE Act, 2009 and Rules made thereunder and once a list is sent to the school, the schools have no option except to give admission to the said child," it said.

"It is a general rule that welfare and beneficial legislation require substantial compliance and must be interpreted in favour of the disadvantaged. The school cannot deny admission on trivial issues that do not hamper the root of the eligibility criteria innately," the Court further said.

The Court referred to Rule 8 of the Uttar Pradesh Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2011, noting that the rule clearly mandates private schools to follow the admission process prescribed by the State Government. "The language of Rule 8 in this regard is very clear wherein it is provided that it shall be binding for the schools to follow the process of admission prescribed by the State Government from time to time," it said.

In the case at hand, a 4-year-old child was denied admission by a private school in Lucknow on the grounds that only students living in the neighborhood were eligible under the quota and that there were other alleged defects in the application. Additionally, the school claimed that the income of the child’s parents was too high to qualify for inclusion on the list.

However, the Court rejected these objections, ruling that the school had no authority to deny admission, even if it had doubts about the child’s eligibility. The Court emphasized that any grievances should be addressed to the relevant authorities and that the school should not withhold admission while awaiting the outcome of such complaints.

"Even if respondent no.5 (Lucknow Public School for Pre Primary Classes) has any doubt about the eligibility of the petitioner for being granted admission, they cannot deny admission to the petitioner and grievance if any, can be raised by the school before the prescribed authority," the Court said.

“Merely because respondent no.5 is of the opinion that the petitioner may not be eligible, does not entitle them to decline admission. No provision could be shown by the counsel for the respondents no.5 and 6 which enables them to deny admission in case they are of the view that certain conditions are not fulfilled by the candidates to whom the school has been allotted,” the Bench remarked.

The Court opined that once a list has been sent by the State Government to the institution; they should forthwith without any demur grant admission to the said child. "No right has been reserved for denial of the admission by the Institution, if they have any grievance, at best, they can write to the authority concerned but even if interregnum period, they should not wait for the outcome of the result of the application and are mandated to grant admission to the student whose name finds mention in list forwarded to the school," the Court said.

"With the rise of globalized world order, inequities in society have heightened too, aggravating the challenges for Welfare state like India. Education is the most important lever for social, economic and political transformation, the most important tool for social engineering and a key instrument for building an equitable and just society. In order to achieve Universalisation of Elementary Education, the Government of India has initiated a number of programmes and projects, the common objectives of which are to enhance access through the expansion of quality school education; to promote equity through the inclusion of disadvantaged groups and weaker sections, and to improve the quality of education," the Bench remarked.

The Court ordered the school to promptly complete the admission formalities for the child and allow her to attend classes. Additionally, the Court imposed costs of Rs. 3,000 on the school for forcing the child’s parents to seek judicial intervention.

Cause Title: Guardian Miesha (Minor) Thru. Her Natural Guardian Shahjahan v. State Of U.P. Thru. Prin. Secy. Basic Education Deptt. Lko. And 5 Others [Neutral Citation No. - 2024:AHC-LKO:50504]

Appearance:-

Petitioner: Advocates Rama Kant Dixit, Atul Kumar, Ram Vishal Tripathi

Respondent: C.S.C.Pradeep Tiwari, Advocate Samanvya Dhar Dwivedi

Click here to read/download the Order


Justice Alok MathurAllahabad High CourtRight to Education Act

Sukriti Mishra