Today, On 1st September, The Supreme Court, hearing Tamil Nadu’s plea over non-release of RTE funds since 2021, issued notice to the Union government. A Bench led by Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta listed the matter for hearing again after four weeks.
The Supreme Court today heard Tamil Nadu’s plea asking for directions to the Centre to release its share of funds under Section 7 of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act.
The state made it clear that the joint responsibility for free education cannot be linked with compliance of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The matter was taken up by a Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta.
Counsel appearing for Tamil Nadu submitted before the Court that the Centre has not released any funds under the RTE Act since 2021, even though Section 7 of the law makes joint funding by the Centre and the States a mandatory responsibility.
The Bench issued notice to the Union government on Tamil Nadu’s petition and directed that the matter be listed again after four weeks.
Earlier, A public interest litigation was submitted to the high court by V. Eswaran, who raised concerns about the delays in initiating RTE admissions for the academic year 2025-26 in Tamil Nadu. The court was informed that, by mid-May, no applications had been invited for the 25% RTE quota, putting the start of the academic session at risk.
While the State Government acknowledged the delay, it attributed it to the Centre’s failure to release its share of funds. The State noted that it had covered the Rs. 188.99 crore RTE reimbursement bill for 2022-23 on its own and had approached the Supreme Court seeking over Rs. 2150 crores as part of the Centre’s 60% share under the Samagra Shiksha Scheme (SSS).
However, a division bench comprised of Justices G.R. Swaminathan and V. Lakshminarayanan clarified that such disputes could not be used to postpone constitutional responsibilities.
The court emphasized that,
“The State Government has a non-derogable obligation to reimburse private unaided schools.”
It further stated that “non-receipt of funds from the Union Government cannot be cited as a reason to wriggle out of this statutory obligation.”
Consequently, it directed Tamil Nadu to strictly adhere to statutory timelines for admissions and reimbursements under the RTE, calling for a rational, rule-based disbursement in line with Section 12(2) of the RTE Act and Rule 9 of the Tamil Nadu RTE Rules.
Case Title: THE STATE OF TAMIL NADU AND ANR. Vs V ESWARAN AND ANR. SLP(C) No. 23257/2025
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