The Delhi High Court on Tuesday declined to hear a plea seeking the enrollment of Rohingya refugee children in local schools, deeming the issue within the Centre’s jurisdiction. The bench, led by Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, indicated that the matter involved “international issues” impacting security and nationality, advising the petitioner to appeal to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) instead.

The petition, filed by the NGO Social Jurist, argued that Delhi’s government and the MCD had denied school admissions to Rohingya children due to a lack of Aadhaar identification. The court directed that the petitioner’s request be considered by the MHA “as expeditiously as possible,” stating, “Let the Home Ministry take a call. This is beyond our purview.”

The bench underscored that Rohingyas, as foreign nationals without official entry status, could not be mainstreamed via school admissions, which it viewed as a policy issue for the government. When petitioner’s counsel Ashok Agarwal highlighted the right to education under Article 21A, the court maintained that decisions regarding non-citizens fall under national policy, not judicial intervention.

The PIL also pointed out that 17 Rohingya children in Khajoori Chowk were being denied statutory benefits even in schools they were already attending. The court, however, reiterated that facilitating their education lay outside its mandate, leaving it for the MHA to address.

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Source: PTI