New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear the Tamil Nadu government's plea challenging a Madras High Court order for reimbursing private unaided schools under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta sought responses from the Centre and the petitioner before the high court and posted the matter after four weeks.

On June 10, the high court decided the petitioner's plea for directions to authorities to initiate the admission process under the RTE Act for the academic year 2024-25. It said the state government had the primary responsibility under Section 7(5) of the Act to provide funds for implementing the provisions of the Act.

"Therefore, the state government is directed to make reimbursements by adhering to the timeline laid down in the statute," it said. The high court also put the state government under a "non-derogable obligation" to reimburse private unaided schools and held, "Non-receipt of funds from the union government cannot be cited as a reason to wriggle out of this statutory obligation."

The high court further called upon the Centre to discharge its obligations under the Act. "We, therefore, direct the central government to consider de-linking the RTE component of SSS (Samagra Shiksha Scheme) and disburse the funds accordingly," it said.

Before the high court, the state's counsel said private school managements were entitled to reimbursement and the responsibility ought to be shared between the Centre and the state governments. The counsel argued that the state was not paid its legitimate dues and was thus unable to reimburse the school managements in time.

As the role and duty of the Centre was highlighted, the high court suo motu impleaded the union government in the matter. The Centre's counsel, while reiterating its commitment to ensure every child's access to education, said SSS was an integrated scheme aligned with the National Education Policy 2020 and that, under Section 7(5), the state government was primarily responsible for implementing the RTE Act.