4 days ago
Plea against Aadhaar for school admissions: Kerala HC seeks state govt's views
Kochi: A high court division bench has directed the state govt to file a counter affidavit in an appeal challenging a single bench order which had upheld the state's directive requiring aided schools to provide the Aadhaar numbers of all students to prevent duplicity and bogus admissions.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
The bench of Justices Anil K Narendran and S Muralee Krishna further adjourned the appeal, which was filed by the manager of St Antony's LP School at Mala in Thrissur, to Aug 8. Earlier, the single bench had dismissed the petition filed by the manager challenging the requirement to furnish Aadhaar numbers of students while determining the sanctioned staff strength of the school. The single bench had observed that the state govt, while providing grant-in-aid, was justified in insisting upon the Aadhaar numbers of all students to avoid duplicity and bogus admissions, and that there was no illegality in such action.
However, in the appeal, the manager contended that the Supreme Court, in the K S Puttaswamy case, had explicitly held that Aadhaar cannot be made mandatory for school admissions, as education is neither a service nor a subsidy. He further argued that denying education to children solely because they lack an Aadhaar number would violate their fundamental right to education under Article 21A of the Constitution.
The petitioner's main grievance is that three students who were admitted to Class I do not possess UID Aadhaar numbers, and their admissions will not be considered for the purpose of sanctioning divisions and posts. Since no other student has joined Class I, and the school is classified as 'uneconomic,' no class division or teaching post will be sanctioned in light of the amended KER.
