NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear the Tamil Nadu government's plea challenging a Madras High Court order for reimbursing private unaided schools under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta sought responses from the Centre and the petitioner before the high court and posted the matter after four weeks.
On June 10, the high court decided the petitioner's plea for directions to the authorities to initiate the admission process under the RTE Act for academic year 2024-25.
It said the state government had the primary responsibility under Section 7(5) of the Act to provide funds for the implementation of the provisions of the Act.
"Therefore, the state government is directed to make reimbursements by adhering to the timeline laid down in the statute," it said.
The high court also put the state government under a "non-derogable obligation" to reimburse private unaided schools and held, "Non-receipt of funds from the union government cannot be cited as a reason to wriggle out of this statutory obligation."
The high court further called upon the Centre to discharge its obligations under the Act.
"We, therefore, direct the central government to consider de-linking the RTE component of SSS (Samagra Shiksha Scheme) and disburse the funds accordingly," it said.
Before the high court, the state's counsel said private school managements were entitled to reimbursement and the responsibility ought to be shared between the Centre and the state governments.
The counsel argued that unfortunately, the state was not paid its legitimate dues and as a result, it was unable to reimburse the school managements in time.
As the role and duty of the Centre was highlighted by the state's counsel, the high court suo motu impleaded the union government in the matter.
The Centre's counsel, while reiterating it commitment to ensure every child's access to education, argued in the high court that SSS was an integrated scheme, aligned with the provisions of National Education Policy 2020.
The Centre's counsel said in view of Section 7(5) of the Act, it was the state government that was primarily responsible for implementing the RTE Act.