Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court has upheld the validity of the Assam Non-Government Educational Institutions (Regulation and Management) Act, 2006, rejecting arguments that the legislation conferred excessive and arbitrary powers on the state government.
A division bench comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar Medhi and Justice Susmita Phukan Khaund delivered the judgment while hearing two petitions filed in 2008 and 2016. The petitions, moved by the All Assam English Medium Schools’ Association and the Byaktigata Vidyalaya Samannayrakshee Samitee, Guwahati, were later clubbed for a common ruling.
The petitioners contended that several provisions of the Act lacked clear guidelines, potentially enabling unchecked control over private educational institutions. They argued that such powers were inconsistent with constitutional safeguards and Supreme Court precedents regarding education-sector autonomy.
In its decision, the court observed that the Act was enacted to address the sharp rise in private schools across Assam. The bench noted that the rapid expansion of such institutions directly impacted students and required a regulatory mechanism to ensure quality, accountability and transparency. It further said that the objectives of the Act were neither unreasonable nor arbitrary, emphasising that regulation was necessary to protect the broader interests of education in the state. The ruling clears the way for continued oversight of private educational institutions under the 2006 Act.