In an interim relief for Kapol Vidyanidhi International School, Kandivali, the Bombay High Court has asked the education inspector not to take any “final action” on the notices issued for allegedly not complying with the provisions of the Maharashtra Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act. The court has asked the inspector to consider the reply to the notice by the trust that runs the school.
While hearing a plea by the Kapol Vidyanidhi Trust, a bench headed by Justice AS Chandurkar issued a notice to the state government, which had asked the trust to shut down the institute and shift its students to other schools.
Kapol Vidyanidhi School's Legal Battle
The authorities have sought the closure of Kapol Vidyanidhi International School, an ICSE board institute, as it didn’t obtain recognition under the Right to Education (RTE) Act. There are allegations about charging excess fees, barring students from classrooms over non-payment of fees and forcing students to purchase textbooks from school.
The RTE Act requires all privately-run schools to obtain a certificate of recognition by fulfilling various norms pertaining to teachers, school building, teaching hours, library and equipment.
The trust’s advocate Arvind Kothari submitted that it has been recognised as a linguistic minority and a certificate was issued to the said effect by the competent authority on July 14, 2014. Being a minority institution, the rigours of the said Act are not applicable to the trust, Kothari argued.
Education Inspector Issues Compliance Notices To Kapol Vidyanidhi Trust
Kothari pointed out that various notices have been issued by the education inspector requiring compliance with the provisions of the said Act and its rules, failing which further steps would be taken against the trust.
After the trust filed the petition, the authorities issued two more notices on January 11 and March 18 this year. The HC has granted the liberty to the trust to amend its petition to challenge these notices as well.
