Delhi High Court Dismisses NGO's Review Plea Against Cash-for-Uniforms Policy for EWS/DG Students
The Delhi High Court has dismissed a review petition filed by the NGO Justice For All, which had challenged an earlier judgment upholding the Delhi Government's policy of providing cash to Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and Disadvantaged Group (DG) category students instead of school uniforms.
A Division Bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad and Justice Renu Bhatnagar said the grounds raised in the review petition were mainly an attempt to re-argue the entire case, which falls outside the scope of a review petition. The Bench noted that courts do not interfere with a policy decision unless it is so arbitrary, whimsical and capricious that it shocks the conscience of the court. It added that the government's decision to give cash instead of uniforms, because of the difficulties it faces, cannot be called completely arbitrary, whimsical or capricious.
The review petition sought a review of a judgment passed in another review plea arising out of a writ petition. The court observed that ordinarily a review over a review is not maintainable, but directed that the present review petition be treated as an application seeking modification of the order.
The original writ petition was filed by the petitioner seeking implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, particularly to ensure free books, uniforms and other study materials for students admitted under the EWS and DG Freeship Category in aided and unaided recognised private schools in Delhi. During the pendency of that writ petition, the court passed various directions to ensure implementation of the RTE Act, and also passed contempt orders for non-compliance.
The Directorate of Education issued a circular stating that, in compliance with the court's directions, it had decided to provide writing materials such as notebooks and stationery in kind from the academic session 2023-24 to children belonging to the EWS/DG category. A new policy was also framed, stating that providing uniforms is a tedious and intensive process that overburdens the department or school with a non-core activity. The tender process through the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) is time-consuming and usually takes about six months. Since every school has a different uniform, managing different types, varieties and colours of uniforms is not feasible and is becoming impossible for the government.
A review petition was then filed seeking modification. The court subsequently directed the GNCTD to ensure that an adequate amount is provided to students for uniforms in line with the government's policy decision. The petitioner again filed a review seeking modification of that judgment. The court held that the review petition was again raising the same arguments made at the time of hearing. It added that the contention that the policy is contrary to the statute was argued during the hearing of the application for modification, which was heard by the court in the review petition that was re-numbered as an application for modification.
The court said it found no error apparent on the face of the record and no material placed before it that had been left unconsidered. It noted that all materials provided by the GNCTD, including the new policy dated 10.06.2025 and the Note for the Council of Ministers, were considered before it concluded that the policy dated 10.06.2025 is not against the mandate of the statute. The court accordingly dismissed the review petition.
Advocate Khagesh B Jha appeared for the petitioner. The case is titled Justice For All v. Govt. Of NCT Of Delhi.
Source: Verdictum