CHANDIGARH: The

’s recent judgement has once again given a free rein to the city-based minority schools, which were under the scanner of the

. After the apex court granted full authority to the National Commission for Minority Education Institutes (NCMEI) in giving minority certificates, the education department’s cases challenging the

of some schools in the Punjab and Haryana high court have fallen flat.

The SC ruling has also washed away plans of the department to challenge the status of other schools which had applied for minority status after the Right to Education Act was implemented.

A senior official requesting anonymity said, “At the moment we are examining the judgment and we will only focus on the three schools whose status has been challenged. Minority status of no other schools will be tested for now as the cases have become weak following the SC judgment. We will scrutinize the cases thoroughly and then proceed further.”

In the last academic session, the UT education department had taken three schools —Vivek High School, Sector 38, St Kabir School, Sector 26 and St Stephen’s School — to the Punjab and Haryana high court and challenged their minority status on the basis that they did not obtain no objection certificates (NOCs) before applying for the status.

The department was going to challenge the status of six more schools. These included Kids-R-Kids School, Sector 42, Ajit Karam Singh International Public School (AKSIPS), Sector 41 and Sector 45, Saupin’s School, Sector 32, Mount Carmel School, Sector 47 and New Public School, Sector 18.

However, after Supreme Court’s judgement the department’s hands have been tied, said a senior department official.

There are around 22 minority schools in Chandigarh out of which around 11 had applied for minority status after 2012. There was a sudden rise in the number of minority schools after the RTE Act was implemented as it made them free from any kind of monitoring be it regarding admission criteria, fee structure or reservations. Most of these schools had applied for minority status directly to the NCMEI without obtaining NOCs.

In the past, the UT education department had raised the issue with the NCMEI too, but the commission had stated that schools if affiliated to CBSE through CISCE did not need NOC.

The only two schools that had obtained NOCs for the minority status include Sri Guru Harkrishan Senior Secondary School, Sector 40, and Guru Nanak Public School, Sector 36.

The schools which have minority status include the four missionary schools in Chandigarh — Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School, Sector 26, St John’s High School, Sector 26, Carmel Convent School, Sector 9 and St Anne’s Convent, Sector 32 — and others such as Little Flower School in Manimajra, St Joseph’s School, Sector 44, Sri Guru Harkrishan Senior Secondary School, Sector 38, Chandigarh Baptist School, Sector 45, St Mary’s School, Sector 46, Ryan International School, Sector 49, and St Xavier’s School, Sector 44.

UT education secretary BL Sharma said, “I have heard about the ruling, but I am yet to go through it personally to understand what exactly does it state.”

Vivek High School director and president HS Mamik said, “It was always an illegal action. I wonder who is going to bear the expenses of the advocates.”

Saupin’s School said director and principal ABS Sidhu said, “We fail to understand the reasons for challenging the minority status of schools. After all, the minority institutions Act is as much the law of the land as RTE Act is. In trying to impose the latter, the government cannot deny the constitutional guarantees given to minority schools. The SC judgement has rightly established that the NCMEI has the original jurisdiction and is competent to decide and recognize the minority status of schools.”