Private Schools Act: Madras HC grants TN govt time till June 25 to consider exempting minority institutions

Chennai: The Madras High Court has granted time till June 25 to the Tamil Nadu government to take a call on the request by minority schools to exempt them from certain provisions of the new Tamil Nadu Private Schools (Regulation ) Act of 2018, which came into force in 2023.

A division bench of the high court comprising Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala and Justice J. Sathya Narayana Prasad granted the Tamil Nadu government time till June 25 to decide on the matter.

Senior counsel Rev. Xavier Arulraj and advocate H. Mary Sowmi Rexi informed the court that Section 19 of the Act empowers the government to exempt minority schools from such provisions, or the rules or orders issued thereunder, which may impinge upon the minority character of the schools run by religious and linguistic minorities.

Advocate General P.S. Raman, appearing for the state government, said the representation made by the minority institutions was under the government’s consideration.

However, he also said that no decision taken on it could be declared now because the Model Code of Conduct is in force for the Lok Sabha elections.

After recording the submission of the Advocate General, the court adjourned the case till June 25.

The 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 for minority educational institutions.

In their present writ petitions, the minority schools contended that the new law which came into force in 2023 violated the Constitutional right of the minorities to administer educational institutions.

The advocates appearing for the minority institutions contended that certain provisions of the Act, which insist on obtaining permission from a competent authority to establish a private school and those that give unrestricted power to the competent authority to withdraw the recognition of any private school, offended the rights of the minorities.

–IANS