Hon'ble Judges/Coram:
J.M. Panchal, Deepak Verma and B.S. Chauhan JUDGMENT
B.S. Chauhan, J.
1. These appeals have been preferred against the judgment and order dated 18.7.2011 of the High Court of Judicature at Madras in Writ Petition Nos. 12882, 12890, 13019, 13037, 13038, 13227, 13293, 13296, 13345, 13381, 13390, 13547 of 2011 and W.P. (M.D.) No. 6143/2011 whereby the High Court has struck down Section 3 of The Tamil Nadu Uniform System of School Education (Amendment) Act, 2011 (hereinafter called the Amendment Act 2011) and issued directions to the State Authorities to implement the provisions of The Tamil Nadu Uniform System of School Education Act, 2010 (hereinafter called the Act 2010), i.e. to implement the common syllabus, distribute the textbooks printed under the uniform system of education and commence the classes on or before 22.7.2011. The Contempt Petitions have been filed for non-implementing the directions given by this Court vide order dated 14.6.2011.
2. FACTS:
A. In the State of Tamil Nadu, there had been different Boards imparting basic education to students upto 10th standard, namely, State Board, Matriculation Board, Oriental Board and Anglo-Indian Board. Each Board had its own syllabus and prescribed different types of textbooks. In order to remove disparity in standard of education under different Boards, the State Government appointed a Committee for suggesting a uniform system of school education. The said Committee submitted its report on 4.7.2007. Then another Committee was appointed to implement suggestions/recommendations made by the said Committee.
B. During the intervening period, The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (hereinafter called the Act 2009), enacted by the Parliament, came into force with effect from 1.4.2010 providing for free and compulsory education to every child of the age of 6 to 14 years in a neighbour hood school till completion of elementary education i.e. upto 8th standard. The Act 2009 provided that curriculum and the evaluation procedure would be laid down by an Academic Authority to be specified by the appropriate State Government, by issuing a notification. The said Academic Authority would lay down curriculum and the evaluation procedure taking into consideration various factors mentioned under Section 29 of the Act 2009. Section 34 of the Act 2009 also provided for the constitution of a State Advisory Council consisting of maximum 15 members. The members would be appointed from amongst persons having knowledge and practical experience in the field of elementary education and child development. The State Advisory Council would advise the State Government on implementation of the provisions of the Act 2009 in an effective manner.
C. The Cabinet of the State of Tamil Nadu took a decision on 29.8.2009 that it will implement the uniform system of school education in all schools in the State, form a Common Board by integrating the existing four Boards, and will introduce textbooks providing for the uniform syllabus in Standards I and VI in th........