NEW DELHI: Solicitor General Tushar Mehta has sought more time from the Supreme Court for the Central government to arrive at a decision on a suggestion to spare the current batch of Class 6 students from the three-language policy.
Earlier, the top court had urged the Centre to make the three-language policy mandatory for Class 6 from January 1, 2027, rather than “springing a surprise” on the current batch when there is hardly four months left for the year to end. The court said its suggestion was based on logistics and balance of convenience for both students and families.
In response to the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta’s appeal on September 23, the apex court allows the Central government time to consider the request.
“Take your time, but see that the Class 6 students get some relief. We did not make this suggestion on a point of legality, but after considering the comfort and convenience of Class 6 students,” Justice Joymalya Bagchi, a part of a three-Judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, said.
The Chief Justice asked the government to detail the availability of teachers and necessary infrastructure in schools to support the implementation of the three-language policy. The Supreme Court posted the case for September 28, 2026.
In the previous hearing, Chief Justice Kant had said the government could use the time to come up with incentives for the children to embrace the study of a third language in school.
Initially, the government had submitted that the scheme should start with Class 6 this year itself.
As per the CBSE guidelines, students in Classes 7 to Class 9 were exempted while the current Class 6 batch was in for the full implementation of the scheme, including a mandatory Class 10 Board exam in the third language by 2031.