SC refuses urgent hearing to TN’s plea against Centre

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to accord urgent hearing to a plea filed by the Tamil Nadu government against the Centre for allegedly withholding over Rs 2,151 crore in central education funds under the Samagra Shiksha Scheme for 2024-2025.

A bench comprising Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Manmohan took note of the fact that the state government filed the petition in May alleging withholding of central funds for 2024 and this year also.

“There is no urgency and it can be taken up after the ‘partial working days’ (the new name of summer vacation),” the bench said.

In May, the Tamil Nadu government moved the top court against the Centre for allegedly withholding the funds.

The DMK government’s plea, filed against the Union Ministry of Education, invokes Article 131 of the Constitution which provides exclusive jurisdiction to the top court to hear pleas between the Centre and one or more states, or between one or more states.

The state government alleged the Centre attempted to force the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the associated PM SHRI Schools Scheme which it strongly objected to, particularly the contentious three-language formula.