JUDGMENT

Manmohan, J. - It has been wisely said "education is the passport to the future". But what if some passports are better than others, giving the holder access to a better mode and method of education and in turn, a more prosperous future.

2. Inequality in education has been around long before Covid-19, but the pandemic has exacerbated the same by adding another strand/element to it, namely, digital divide.

3. The unparalleled education disruption from the Covid-19 pandemic is far from over, as despite lapse of nearly six months, Union of India and Government of NCT of Delhi (for short "GNCTD") are yet to announce a date for reopening of physical classroom for elementary schools.

4. According to UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, the Covid-19 pandemic has the potential to exacerbate entrenched inequalities and waste untold human potential as well as undermine decades of progress.

PRAYERS IN THE WRIT PETITION

5. Initially, the instant public interest litigation was filed seeking a direction to the respondents to supply free laptops/android mobile phones/Electronic Tablets with high speed internet to children belonging to Economically Weaker Sections or Disadvantaged Groups (hereinafter referred to as "EWS/DG") so that they could attend their classes by way of video conferencing just like fee paying students in their classes. The initial writ petition was confined to the following children, as their schools only were conducting online classes at that time: -

(A) A child admitted under section 12(1)(c) of the Act, 2009 in non-minority private schools.

(B) A child admitted under notification dated 30th December, 2013 in schools which had been allotted land by government agencies at concessional rates.

(C) A child admitted in minority school Protected by para 65A of Society for Unaided Private Schools of Rajasthan Vs. Union of India and Another , (2012) 6 SCC 1 .

6. As during the pendency of the present petition, some other schools also started online classes, the petitioner sought modification in the prayer clause to include children studying in these schools, so that comprehensive orders could be passed under Article 21A of the Constitution of India for all the children other than fee paying students. Learned counsel for the petitioner stated that for children studying in minority schools, the State should bear the burden. Accordingly, the modification in the prayer clause was allowed vide order dated 06th August, 2020 and the following students were added subsequently as beneficiaries:-

(A) A child admitted in government School.

(B) A child admitted in non-minority aided school.

(C) A child admitted in aided minority school prior to judgment of the Supreme Court in Pramati Educational and Cultural Trust (Registered) And Others vs. Union of India & Ors. , (2014) 8 SCC 1 .

(D) A child suffering from multiple disabilities who has opted for home-based education as his or her choice under proviso Section 3 (iii) of the Act, 2009.

7. The amended prayer clause in the writ petition is reproduced hereinbelow:-

"i) an appropriate writ order or direction to respondents to ensure that the free laptop/I-pad/Mobile Phone and high speed Internet or any other equipment required for on-line classes through video conferencing, be provided free of cost to every child defined under section 2(c) of the RTE Act except fee paying children with immediate effect irrespective of their school where they study or they have opted for home based education as a choice permitted to them under section 3(iii) of the RTE Act, 2009.

ii) an appropriate writ order or direction to the respondents R-1 to R-6 to ensure the EWS/DG children defined under the RTE Act, studying in pvt schools should not face any financial barrier which may prevent him or her from getting equitable quality education in the same manner and with the same equipment their fee paying counterpart is getting in schools recognized by them.

iii) An appropriate writ order or direction to