New Private Schools Act | Madras High Court grants time till June 25 for T.N. to consider exempting minority institutions

Madras High Court grants Tamil Nadu government time till June 25 to consider minority schools' representation on exemption request.

The Madras High Court on Monday, April 8, 2024, granted time till June 25 for the Tamil Nadu government to take a call on a representation made by minority schools to exempt them from certain provisions of the Tamil Nadu Private Schools (Regulation) Act of 2018, which came into force in 2023.

The First Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala and Justice J. Sathya Narayana Prasad granted time after Senior Counsel Rev. Fr. Xavier Arulraj said the challenge made by the schools to most of the provisions would become infructuous if the representation was considered positively.

He said, the representation had been made under Section 19 of the 2018 Act, which empowers the government to exempt minority schools from such provisions of the Act, or the rules or orders issued thereunder, which may impinge upon the minority character of the schools run by religious and linguistic minorities.

On his part, Advocate General P.S. Raman said the representation made by the educational institutions was under the consideration of the government but no decision taken on it could be declared now, because of the Model Code of Conduct in force at present due to the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

After recording his submissions, the judges adjourned, to June 25, the hearing on nearly 300 writ petitions filed by various school managements challenging almost all of the provisions of the 2018 Act and the statutory rules framed under it in January 2023 from when the Act too came into force.

The first Bench also extended till the next hearing, an interim order of status quo ante to be maintained as on December 17, 1975 when a Division Bench of the High Court had declared as inapplicable, certain provisions of the Tamil Nadu Recognised Private Schools (Regulation) Act of 1973 and the statutory rules framed thereunder in 1974 to minority educational institutions.

In their present writ petitions, the minority schools contended that the new law enacted by the State legislature in 2018 and brought into force from 2023, were in violation of the Constitutional right of minorities to administer educational institutions.