The Supreme Court directed on Wednesday, October 15, that a petition concerning the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act be presented to the Chief Justice of India for suitable directions.

A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih remarked that a similar dispute involving the RTE Act was pending before the Supreme Court.

The bench was hearing a PIL filed by Nitin Upadhyay through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, which sought a direction that schools providing both religious and secular education be included in the provisions of the RTE Act, Indian Express reports.

The PIL also challenged the Act's sections 1(4) and 1(5), saying that they were arbitrary and violated multiple constitutional requirements, notably Article 14 (equality before the law). It stated that the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET), which was implemented to preserve the quality of teachers, applied to non-minority institutions but not to minority institutions.

On September 1, the Supreme Court referred the case to a larger bench for adjudication, questioning the legality of its 2014 decision that excluded minority schools from the RTE Act's scope.

The Supreme Court in 2014 ruled that the RTE Act guaranteed children a variety of entitlements, including basic infrastructure, skilled teachers, books, uniforms, and midday meals. However, minority schools that weren't included under the RTE Act were not required to provide these facilities, it stated. 

Thus, the bench invited the CJI to consider if the issues raised by it warrant referral to a larger bench.