Delhi High Court Upholds Direct Benefit Transfer Policy for School Uniforms, Says RTE Act Does Not Mandate Supply in Kind
Court accepts Delhi government’s plea citing delays, tender issues and logistical hurdles in uniform distribution
The Delhi High Court has upheld the Government of NCT of Delhi’s decision to provide financial assistance for school uniforms through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) instead of physical supply, after noting persistent delays, procurement bottlenecks and logistical difficulties in distributing uniforms in kind to Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and Disadvantaged Group Freeship Category (the DG Category) students under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act).
The Court took note of the government’s submission that uniform distribution was repeatedly affected due to tendering delays on the GeM portal, variation in school-specific colour patterns, stitching timelines, and size-related issues, resulting in students not receiving uniforms on time.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Subramonium Prasad observed, “We find that the difficulties faced by the Government regarding measurement of uniforms, procurement of material, and processing of individual orders and distribution of uniforms are genuine. Undoubtedly, it would be impossible to carry-out the exercise of taking measurements of every student, placing orders for different kinds of uniform cloth on the GeM portal, after procurement of the material getting the uniforms stitched as per the measurements and finally distributing the uniforms in schools before the commencement of a new session…”.
“In the opinion of this Court, the decision taken by the Government to provide for money to the students directly so that they can buy the uniforms would ensure that the uniforms are available to the students in time. The decision taken by the Government cannot be said to be contrary to the mandate of the RTE Act and the 2011 Rules. Under the 2011 Rules, there is a mandate to provide uniforms but the Rules do not state that the Government has to provide uniforms in kind only. Therefore, the insistence of the Petitioners that actual physical uniforms be provided cannot be accepted”, the bench further held.
Advocate Khagesh B Jha appeared for the petitioner and Sameer Vashisht, Standing Counsel appeared for the respondent-GNCTD, Advocate Kamal Gupta appeared for the respondent-Action Committee.
The petition was filed for implementation of the provisions of RTE Act more particularly for ensuring the compliance of the mandate for providing free books, uniforms and other study materials to the students admitted under EWS and the DG Category by the Government, in aided and unaided recognised private schools of Delhi.
The bench modified its earlier order dated 13-04-2023, and accepted the government’s stand that procurement and distribution of uniforms in kind involved serious operational, logistical and administrative constraints, including school-specific colour combinations, individual measurements, tender delays on the GeM portal, and stitching timelines.
The Court observed that while the statutory obligation to provide uniforms remains intact, the 2011 Rules framed under the RTE Act do not prescribe the mode of such assistance. It held that transferring money directly to beneficiaries would ensure timely availability of uniforms and could not be termed violative of the Act or arbitrary in nature.
Stressing on the well-settled limits of judicial review in policy matters, the Bench reiterated that courts cannot sit as appellate authorities over executive decisions unless the policy is shown to be manifestly arbitrary, mala fide, unconstitutional, or contrary to statutory provisions. Finding none of these infirmities, the Court declined to interfere with the policy dated 10-06-2025.
Accordingly, the Court directed the Delhi government to ensure that adequate amounts are disbursed well in advance in accordance with the approved policy, and disposed of the review petition.
Cause Title: Justice For All Govt. OF NCT of Delhi [Neutral Citation: 2026:DHC:582-DB]
Appearance:
Petitioner: Khagesh B Jha with Shikha Sharma Bagga, Ankit Mann, Jyoti Shokeen, Amisha Dhariwan, Advocates.
Respondent: Sameer Vashisht, SC with Abhinav Sharma, Harshita Nathrani, K. Mittal, Advocates for GNCTD. Kamal Gupta with Tripti Gupta, Sparsh Aggarwal, Madhulika Singh, Sabrina Singh, Advocates for Action Committee.