In a striking legal challenge, an 11-year-old student has approached the Supreme Court questioning the Delhi government’s admission policy for its prestigious CM SHRI Schools. The petition argues that the mandatory entrance test for Classes 6, 7, and 8 directly violates the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE), 2009.

Filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, the plea contends that the policy undermines Article 21-A — which guarantees free and compulsory education — and Section 13 of the RTE Act, which expressly prohibits any form of “screening procedure” in school admissions.

The petitioner, Janmesh Sagar, a Class VI student at Government Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya, appeared for the CM SHRI entrance test on September 13, 2025, after a government circular dated July 23 mandated it for new admissions. His petition insists that CM SHRI schools fall under the “specified category” defined by the RTE Act and therefore cannot claim exemption from its provisions.

Highlighting what it calls a “discriminatory and unlawful practice,” the petition challenges earlier Delhi High Court interpretations that excluded specified-category schools from RTE safeguards, calling them inconsistent with the constitutional mandate.

Janmesh seeks the Supreme Court’s intervention to scrap the July 23 circular, declare Section 13 applicable to CM SHRI schools, and replace entrance exams with a lottery-based admission system to ensure fairness and compliance with the law.