The Madras High Court on Thursday dismissed a writ petition filed by DAV Boys Senior Secondary School at Gopalapuram in Chennai challenging a legal provision related to reimbursement of fee, in tranches, for 25% of local poor students, who should be mandatarily admitted every year under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act of 2009.
A Division Bench of Justices S. Manikumar and Subramonium Prasad refused to entertain the case on the ground that a legal provision could not be challenged just because one school was not receiving reimbursement from the State government in time. It, however, gave liberty to the school to file a writ petition seeking a direction to speed up the reimbursement process.
The petitioner school had challenged Rule 9 of the Tamil Nadu Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules of 2011, which provide for reimbursement in two instalments in September and March every year, on the ground that it was arbitrary, unscientific and cumbersome.
It also claimed that schools following the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) faced a tough time in claiming reimbursement from the State government.
