Patna, April 4: The high court today told the government it cannot take “coercive action” against Christian minority schools which are resisting a diktat to implement 25 per cent quota for underprivileged children under the Right to Education (RTE) Act.

The division bench of Chief Justice Rekha M. Doshit and Justice Jyoti Saran, however, asked the minority schools to prepare the list of 25 per cent underprivileged children and submit it to the Patna district magistrate and the high court by May 9, the next date of hearing.

Patna district magistrate Sanjay Singh had asked the private schools to implement the 25 per cent reservation as laid down in the Act by March 31 and warned them of “stern action” if they didn’t.

Human resource development minister P.K. Shahi too had stated in the Legislative Council that there were “anomalies” in the admission process.

The Patna High Court order came on a petition filed by the Christian Minority Education Society, an umbrella organisation of 15 institutions, seeking a stay on the implementation of the Act.

Among the schools which are part of the society are Don Bosco Academy, St Karen’s High Schools, St Xavier’s, Christ Church School, St Dominique Savio, Notre Dame Academy, St Joseph’s Convent, Loyola High School and St Michael’s High School.

The society’s counsel, Alok Kumar Sinha, argued that the government can’t enforce the quota on these schools as minority educational institutions have the right to administer them under Article 30(1) of the Constitution.

Sinha also contended that these schools were already imparting free education to the weaker sections and underprivileged children among the Christians.

The schools further submitted that the Centre has already issued directions to the state governments to protect the interest of minority institutions while implementing the Act.

Government advocate H.P. Singh, however, submitted that the issue was pending in the Supreme Court.

An association of schools has challenged the constitutional validity of the RTE Act in the Supreme Court, saying the government was trying to enforce reservation and regulate affairs of private unaided and minority educational institutions in complete breach of an 11-judge bench verdict of the apex court.

The Bihar minority schools have also objected to the compensation offered by the government to make up for the loss on account of reserving 25 per cent seats for the underprivileged. The government has said it would give around Rs 2,800 per year — the same amount it spends on a single student annually as school fee and other expenditure.