The Supreme Court has expressed its strong displeasure over the States of Telangana and Punjab, as well as the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, over their failure to file responses on a petition seeking enforcement of the Right to Education Act.
The Bench of Justice Vikram Nath, Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Sandeep Mehta on Tuesday further pulled up the officials of the two States and the UT for not appearing before the Court despite being served notice for the same.
Since the rest of the States have already filed their responses, the failure of the States and the UT to submit either a response or a counter affidavit was leading to a delay in hearing of the matter, the bench pointed out.
It directed the Chief Secretaries of the concerned States and the UT to remain present before the Court on the next date of hearing, in case they were not able to file their responses by that time. If the States and the UT filed the responses and were duly represented on the next date of hearing, the presence of the Chief Secretaries would not be required, added the top court of the country.
The Bench passed the order on a petition filed by one Md Imran Ahmad through Advocate Ayush Negi seeking enforcement of Section 12(1)c of the RTE Act, mandating non-minority private unaided schools to keep aside at least 25 percent of their entry-level seats for children belonging to disadvantaged sections of society.
In February 2023, the top court of the country had issued notice to the Central government and the States in the matter.
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