Delhi HC questions PIL on making Health and Yoga Science mandatory in schools, calls it policy matter

New Delhi [India], January 27 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Monday while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking to make “Health and Yoga Science” a mandatory part of the school curriculum, remarked that the issue at hand falls within the realm of policy, stressing the need for a distinction between presenting a matter before the judiciary and submitting it to the executive.

The Court, however, expressed concerns about the issue falling within the policy domain, urging the petitioners to differentiate between judicial matters and executive decisions. While considering the request, the bench also questioned whether a judicial declaration was necessary to mandate the complementary nature of health and education.

The bench, led by Chief Justice Devender Kumar Upadhyay and comprising Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, adjourned the matter to April 9.

However, the Court directed the Delhi Government to file its response within four weeks and also issued a fresh notice to the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), seeking its response on the matter.

The PIL was moved in the year 2022 in Delhi High Court sought direction to make “Health and YogaScience” a mandatory part of the curriculum for up to 8th Standard, for the overall development of children while also enhancing their knowledge, potential and talent, and development of their physical and mental abilities to the full extent as in the spirit of Section 29 of the Right To Education (RTE) Act 2009.

Petitioner Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, who is a practising lawyer and a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader submitted that “the Right to Health (Article 21) and the Right to Education (Article 21A) are complementary and supplementary to each other. Therefore, it is the duty of the State to make “Health and Yoga Science” a mandatory part of the curriculum up to the 8th Standard in the spirit of S. 29 of the RTE Act read with Articles 21, 21A, 39, 47.”