Plea says Punjab failed to implement RTE Act, SC issues notice to Centre, state

The Supreme Court on Monday sought the response of the Centre and the Punjab government to a plea which said the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act) is yet to be “substantially implemented” in the state despite the law being passed over a decade and a half ago.

A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice A Mohana issued notice to the two on a plea by former bureaucrat Jagmohan Singh Raju on behalf of K S Raju Legal Trust.

The court also asked Raju, who appeared in person to find out the status of implementation in any backward district of the state, to back up his contention.

“We are issuing notice. Meanwhile, just do this. That will help us in understanding the issue,” the CJI said.

Raju’s plea said despite attempts to seek judicial remedies, including contempt proceedings and representation to the Centre “the state has failed to implement the mandate of Section 12(1)(c) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act), which requires admission of children belonging to weaker sections and disadvantaged groups to the extent of at least 25% at the entry level in private unaided non-minority schools”.

It added that “this statutory mandate, enacted to operationalise the fundamental right under Article 21A, has remained substantially unimplemented in the state since inception” and that “the non-compliance by the state of Punjab is neither recent nor incidental, but has persisted since the inception of the Act”.

The CJI asked, “Have you been able to identify some schools which are not implementing this?”

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Raju said it was not a question of one or two schools, the Act has not been implemented in Punjab at all in the last 15 years.

The CJI pointed out that in the proceedings before the HC, the government had filed an affidavit saying 476 children belonging to EWS were admitted in private-aided schools.

Raju said the rule is that 25% of the total number of students admitted in private schools have to be from the EWS quota. “As per government statistics, almost 2 lakh students are admitted at the entry level in private schools every year; 25% of that comes to 50,000,” he said.

“What is the policy in Punjab? Do they compensate the school,” the CJI asked.

Raju said that is the policy universally.

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The CJI told him, “We hope you are not fighting for the private schools” for payment from the government.

Raju said, “In 2009, I was joint secretary in the Government of India and was involved in drafting the RTE Act. I have no interest in the private sector. I left IAS.”

Raju resigned in 2022.

The CJI told him, “Do a survey of some backward districts, find out how many have not implemented or have refused to grant admission at all.”

Raju said, “I put RTI about a year back to all the districts asking how many students you have admitted under Section 12(1). They said they have not admitted anyone for the last 15 years.”

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Raju pointed out that he had earlier approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court in December 2024, seeking enforcement of the statutory mandate, pursuant to which binding directions were issued to the state government in February/April 2025 for implementation of the RTE Act. However, there was no compliance, leading to initiation of contempt proceedings wherein the HC has recorded prima facie finding of wilful disobedience by the state.

“Despite the clarity of the constitutional and statutory mandate, and notwithstanding judicial directions and contempt proceedings, effective compliance continues to remain elusive. This establishes a continuing failure of constitutional governance, resulting in the denial of the fundamental right guaranteed under Article 21A to a large number of eligible children, particularly those belonging to weaker sections and Scheduled Castes”, the plea said.