HC pulls up edu dept, orders action on 118 RTE complaints

Raipur: The Chhattisgarh high court on March 11 directed the district education officer, Durg, to decide 118 pending Right to Education complaints within 2 weeks, while taking note of delays that the court said were affecting admissions of poor and needy students.Hearing a batch of matters led by WPPIL No 22 of 2016, C V Bhagvant Rao versus Union of India and others, the division bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal also reviewed an affidavit filed by the Secretary, School Education Department, Chhattisgarh, in response to media reports concerning alleged misconduct at DAV Mukhyamantri Public School, Tilsiwa, Surajpur.According to the affidavit, an inquiry by the DEO, Surajpur, found that the Principal behaved harshly with parents and resided in the school premises without authorisation from either the School Education Department or DAV management. The affidavit also said her husband frequently visited the campus and that some complaints of harsh conduct could not be conclusively verified. The court recorded that action was taken and that the Principal was removed from the post, with another teacher given additional charge.Counsel for the petitioner opposed the delay, arguing that the new academic session would be affected. The court noted from the Secretary's affidavit that in Durg district alone, 172 offline complaints were received, of which only 54 were resolved and 118 remained pending. It then ordered the DEO, Durg, to decide those 118 cases within 2 weeks from receipt of the order.The bench also acted on submissions by intervenor Vikash Tiwari, who appeared in person and said his grievances were forwarded on February 5 by the DPI deputy director to DEOs in Durg, Raipur and Bilaspur for action within 1 week, but no action followed. The court directed the deputy director to ensure compliance and inform the court of the outcome by the next hearing.In another development, the court took note of an application filed by the intervenor alleging that a private school at Tulsi in Raipur published an advertisement on March 7 inviting admissions for the 2026-27 session despite allegedly lacking required recognition. The bench ordered the school to be impleaded as respondent, directed issuance of notice on the intervenor's application, and asked the state counsel to ensure service of notice. It also directed the Secretary, School Education Department, to file a personal affidavit responding to the application.The court separately heard WPC No 414 of 2026, in which the petitioner challenged a Dec 16, 2025 communication of the School Education Department restricting admissions under Section 12(1)(c) of the RTE Act to Class 1 and excluding pre-school classes from the 25 percent quota for weaker section and disadvantaged group children.Senior counsel Manoj Paranjpe, appearing for the petitioner, argued that the communication was contrary to Section 12(1)(c) and its proviso, which extend the quota to pre-school wherever such education is imparted. He said the state consistently implemented the provision since 2010 through circulars issued in 2010, 2015 and 2016, and that the new communication created an arbitrary 2-tier system by allowing fee-paying children entry at pre-school level while excluding disadvantaged children. He also cited a January 8, 2026 Rajasthan High Court judgment striking down similar restrictions.The bench dispensed with formal notice to the state as it was already represented in court and directed the respondents to file their return within 1 week, with rejoinder, if any, to follow within a further 1 week.The court also asked the Secretary, School Education Department, to explain in his affidavit why reserved seats reportedly fell by 30,000 from a total of 85,000 in the current session, an issue raised by the petitioner's counsel. The matters were listed for further hearing on March 24, 2026.