Chief Justice Amreshwar Pratap Sahi and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy were informed that the institution had already written to the Centre seeking a copy of a bilateral agreement entered between the U.S. and India in 1995 for establishing the school with the objective of providing international education to children of expatriates.

NEWS STATES TAMIL NADU
TAMIL NADU
American International School granted six weeks’ time to prove its special status
American International School
American International School
Legal Correspondent
CHENNAI 26 SEPTEMBER 2020 00:39 IST
UPDATED: 26 SEPTEMBER 2020 00:39 IST

Madras High Court asks the school to obtain documents from the Centre
The Madras High Court on Friday granted six weeks’ time for the American International School at Taramani here to obtain documents from the Centre to prove that it enjoys a special status and hence certain provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act of 2009 would not be applicable to it.

Chief Justice Amreshwar Pratap Sahi and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy were informed that the institution had already written to the Centre seeking a copy of a bilateral agreement entered between the U.S. and India in 1995 for establishing the school with the objective of providing international education to children of expatriates.

Counsel representing the school said he would be able to argue his case seeking exemption from the RTE Act only if he was able to lay his hands on the bilateral agreement and prove that the institution could not be equated with other schools which had to reserve 25% of seats at the entry level for the weaker sections and disadvantaged groups.

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‘Unconstitutional’

The American International School had originally approached the court with a plea to declare certain provisions of the RTE Act as unconstitutional and illegal. However, the judges said such a declaration could not be issued by the High Court since the Supreme Court had already upheld the constitutional validity of the 2009 Act.

They pointed out that the institution could only seek exemption from applicability of the contentious provisions after proving, through documentary evidence, that it enjoys a special status.

In its affidavit, the school had stated that about 90% of its students were not Indian nationals and that they belonged to 30 different nationalities.