Rajasthan High Court - Jodhpur

Delhi Public Upper Primary School vs State Of Rajasthan (2024:Rj-Jd:42278) on 17 October, 2024

Author: Kuldeep Mathur

Bench: Kuldeep Mathur

[2024:RJ-JD:42278]

      HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN AT
                       JODHPUR
                 S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 7836/2024

Delhi Public Upper Primary School, A-21, 1St Extension, Kamla
Nehru Nagar, Jodhpur. Through Bhupendra Singh Rathore S/o
Ganshayam Singh Rathore Aged About 40 Years, Ganthiya
House, Prithivipura, Rasala Road- Jodhpur. (Chairperson Of The
Gayatri Technical Education Trust)
                                                                      ----Petitioner
                                     Versus
1.       State Of Rajasthan, Through The Secretary, School
         Education Department, Government Of Rajasthan, Jaipur,
         Rajasthan.
2.       Director,    Elementary            Education,            Government     Of
         Rajasthan, Bikaner, Rajasthan.
3.       Director, Secondary Education, Government Of Rajasthan,
         Bikaner, Rajasthan.
4.       District Education Officer, Jodhpur At Club Road, Jodhpur.
                                                                   ----Respondents


For Petitioner(s)          :     Ms. Laxmi Rathore
For Respondent(s)          :     Mr. Deepak Chandak, AAAG
                                 Mr. B.L. Bhati, AAG



            HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE KULDEEP MATHUR

Order

17/10/2024

By way of filing the present civil writ petition under Article

226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner has prayed for the

following reliefs:-

"It is, therefore, humbly and respectfully prayed that this writ petition of petitioner school may kindly be allowed:-

A. By an appropriate writ order or direction, the impugned guidelines [Annexure 2] for session of 2024-2025 which is completely contrary to the Act, may kindly be quashed and set aside, as it directs the petitioner schools to implementation for the same.

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B. That as the Respondents had arbitrarily started conducting the procedure for admissions under RTE. The entire exercise is without jurisdiction and the guidelines which are over-ruling the Act of RTE 2009, and the Time-frame dated-2/5/24 [Annexure 3] to excecute the impugned guidelines, should be quashed.

C. By an appropriate writ, order r direction, kindly direct the respondent departments to grant the reimbursement amount of those children who were admitted in the mid session of 2022-2023 without any delay and during the pendency of this writ petition.

D. By an appropriate writ, order or direction, the impugned guidelines for the academic session 2024-2025 '(Annex-2)' be quashed to the extent it is directing to take the admissions in pre-primary [nursery] and class 1 without reimbursement as the act defines the reimbursement is responsibility/liability of state, which cannot be denied.

Ε. By an appropriate writ, order or direction, kindly direct the respondent department that every year the reimbursement amount shall be released in the running session, without delay.

F. By an appropriate writ, order or direction, that the implementation of the impugned guidelines be quashed as the guidelines over-ride the Act and be held to be void ab-initio.

G. By an appropriate writ, order or direction, kindly stay the admission process till the state government remove the discrepancies given in the impugned guidelines and till the pendency of this writ petition.

H. Any other appropriate writ, order or direction in which this Hon'ble Court may deem just and proper in the facts and circumstances of the petition may kindly be passed in favour of the petitioner schools."

2. The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the

respondents are denying reimbursement of fee of the students

who have been admitted in the pre-school, which is in

contravention to the provision of Section 12(2) of the Right of

Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (hereinafter

referred to as 'Act of 2009'). Learned counsel submitted that the

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controversy involved in the present writ petition has already been

set to rest by a co-ordinate Bench of this Court at Jaipur Bench in

a batch of writ petitions lead by "Neerja Modi School, Sez Road,

Kalwara, Jaipur v. State of Rajasthan and Ors": S.B. Civil Writ

Petition No.8567/2023 wherein a direction has been issued to the

State Government to make reimbursement of fee to the schools

who have been constituted/allotted at two levels namely Nursery/

PP3+ at pre-school education as well as at Class-I for elementary

education.

3. Learned counsel for the respondents though opposed the

submission made by the learned counsel for the petitioner about

the entitlement of the petitioner to claim reimbursement from the

State Government, however, he was not in a position to refute the

fact that in the similar controversy as involved in the case of

"Neerja Modi School, Sez Road, Kalwara, Jaipur" (Supra), a

direction has been issued by a co-ordinate Bench of this Court at

Jaipur Bench to make reimbursement to the petitioner institutions

therein. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the State further

submitted that being aggrieved by the judgment in the case of

"Neerja Modi School, Sez Road, Kalwara, Jaipur" (Supra), the

State has preferred an appeal before the Hon'ble Division Bench of

the Rajasthan High Court at Jaipur and the same is pending

consideration.

4. The operative portion of the judgment rendered in Neerja

Modi School, Sez Road, Kalwara, Jaipur (Supra) is reproduced

herein below:-

"42 So far as the entitlement of the petitioners- institutions for reimbursement towards the students allotted by the State Government at Pre-school level is concerned, in my considered view these institutions are

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entitled for reimbursement from the State Government as the State Government is under obligation to provide free and compulsory education to such admitted students, in view of the provisions of the Act of 2009 & the Rules of 2011. A plain reading of the provisions contained in Section 12(2) of the Act of 2009 makes it explicitly clear that such schools/institutions providing free and compulsory elementary education and covered under the Act of 2009 as well as the Rules of 2011, they shall be reimbursed the expenditure so incurred by them and apart from it, till last year, as informed to this Court, the State Government has been reimbursing the expenses for the students allotted by them in pre-school education and in the facts and circumstances at hand this Court concurs with the view which has been expressed by the High Court of Bombay in the matter of Dr. Vikhe Patil Foundation's Vikhe Patil Memorial School Pune as well as the view expressed by the High Court of Karnataka at Bengaluru in the matter of Soujanya Patel Trust & Ors. (both supra).

43. So far as the allotment of the students from neighbourhood area is concerned, this Court records the assurance given by the learned Advocate General that they will allot the students to the schools only from the neighbourhood areas whether it is either at the level of pre-school education or Class-I of elementary education.

44. In that view of the matter, these writ petitions are partly allowed with the above directions/observations. The State Government is held entitled for allotment of students to these institutions at two levels namely Nursery/PP3+ at pre school education as well as at Class- 1 for elementary education and the institutions which are providing education at both the levels i.e. pre school education and elementary eduction there shall be two entry levels; one at pre school education at Nursery i.e. PP3+ and at Class-I also. The petitioners-institutions are also held entitled for reimbursement from the State Government."

5. Having considered the facts and circumstances of the case,

and keeping in view the precedent law, the present writ petition is

dispose of and it is held that the petitioner-institution shall be

entitled to claim reimbursement from the State Government for

the students allotted to it at pre-school level. The State

Government shall be under an obligation to reimburse the

fees/expenses incurred by the petitioner-institution qua the

[2024:RJ-JD:42278] (5 of 5) [CW-7836/2024]

students so allotted to it in pre-school education. The necessary

compliance of the present order shall be made by State

Government within a period of three months.

6. It is further made clear that the State Government shall be