A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking school admission for children of all Myanmar Rohingya refugees near their residences.
Advocate Ashok Aggarwal on behalf of NGO Social Jurist, the plea challenged the Delhi High Court order of October 29, 2024, which had disposed of the writ petition on the grounds that since the Rohingyas were foreigners having no legal entry into India, the petitioner to approach the Ministry of Home Affairs for relief.
The High Court had further directed the MHA to expeditiously decide on the representation in accordance with law.
The petitioner contended before the Apex Court that it submitted a representation to the Home Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of NCT of Delhi on November 4, 2024.
The Ministry was requested to issue an order declaring that all refugee children residing in India were entitled to education under Articles 14, 21, and 21A of the Constitution of India, in accordance with the RTE Act, 2009, regardless of their nationality.
A reminder was sent on November 28, 2024, but no response has been received to date, it added.
The plea further said that Article 21A of the Constitution of India did not differentiate between Indian and foreign citizens for providing education to children between the ages of 6 and 14 years.
Any child within this age group, present on Indian soil, was entitled to free and compulsory education as a fundamental right under Article 21A of the Constitution of India, it noted.
The plea termed the impugned actions of the respondents – the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the Directorate of Education, Government of NCT of Delhi – in refusing admission to Rohingya refugee children due to the lack of an Aadhar Card, as unjust, arbitrary, discriminatory, malafide, anti-child, and unethical.
It said the actions violated the fundamental right to education guaranteed under Articles 14, 21, and 21-A of the Constitution of India, as well as the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, and the Delhi School Education Act, 1973, along with the rules framed thereunder.
The plea further contended that Rohingya refugee children did not possess Aadhar cards or bank accounts, as these were not permitted by Indian authorities.
The absence of an Aadhar card could not be a valid reason to deny school admission to any child, as established by the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd) vs Union of India, decided on September 13, 2023, it added.