The Supreme Court on Tuesday took exception to the failure by the States of Telangana and Punjab and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir for failing to respond to a public interest litigation petition seeking enforcement of the Right to Education Act [Md. Imran Ahmad v. Union of India].
A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta said that the failure by the Union Territory and the two States in filing their reply was delaying the hearing in the case.
“Despite service of notice, no one has entered appearance on behalf of three States i.e. State of Telangana, State of Punjab and State of Jammu & Kashmir. Neither responses nor counter affidavits have been filed by them. They have not even filed their responses whereas rest others States have already filed their responses. The matter is being delayed due to non-filing of responses of these three States,” the Court stated.
Hence, it cautioned the that Chief Secretaries will have to be present for the next hearing if no responses are filed by then.
“We direct the Chief Secretaries of the concerned States to remain present on the next date, in case no response is filed by the said States. In case the response is filed and States are duly represented, the presence of the Chief Secretaries would not be necessary,” the order said.
