Rajasthan High Court Rules Rejection of RTE Admission Over Missing “Ward Number” from Aadhaar is Unjustified

The Rajasthan High Court has granted relief to a minor whose application for admission under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, was rejected by a private school on the basis that the child’s Aadhaar card did not show the applicant’s residential ward number. The bench, led by Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand, emphasized that a child’s fundamental right under Article 21-A of the Constitution — the right to free and compulsory education — cannot be overridden by purely procedural or technical deficiencies.

In the case, the child (petitioner) had been selected in the lottery process for admission under RTE, but afterward the school rejected the application, citing that the Aadhaar submitted lacked the ward number. The school authorities could have asked for a document showing the ward number, but instead rejected the application outright. The petitioner pointed out that when the deadline for verification of documents was extended (up to 8 May 2025), on the final date the child submitted a document issued by a competent authority showing the correct ward number. Yet this was not considered, and the rejection remained unaltered.

The Court held that once the child is selected by lottery, the school’s obligation to admit under RTE becomes applicable, and technical non-compliance that is capable of being remedied ought not to serve as a ground for outright rejection. The Court observed that rejecting the application without considering the corrected document was unjustified and legally untenable.

The judgment underlines the principle that education is an essential component of living with dignity, and the right under Article 21-A is among the most significant constitutional rights because education enables an individual to understand and promote one’s highest interest. The Court referred to the fundamental right dimension of RTE, linking it with dignity under Article 21 and emphasizing that children should not be prevented or delayed from accessing education because of procedural lapses, especially when they are remedied in time.

Accordingly, the Court directed the respondents (the school and related authorities) to admit the child in the concerned private school within fifteen days. The Court’s order mandates that admissions under RTE should be carried out in accordance with law, and that procedural requirements should be read reasonably, so as not to defeat the object of the RTE Act.

The case is titled Master Daivik Rangwani v. State of Rajasthan & Ors. The citation is 2025 LiveLaw (Raj) 307.

This decision clarifies that procedural technicalities like the absence of ward number on Aadhaar cannot be used as a barrier once a child is selected by lottery and submits proof within the verification period. The Court stressed that the state and schools must interpret procedural requirements in a manner that supports children’s access to education, rather than erecting unnecessary hurdles.