Supreme Court
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging restrictions imposed by the Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh education departments on the entry of journalists, YouTubers, social-media personalities and civil-society members in government schools.
The dismissal of the PIL plea assumes significance in the wake of a recent assault on Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) activists in Rajasthan during their inspection of a government school as part of the “school thik karo” campaign.
A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe dismissed the PIL filed by Priya Mishra.
“We are not inclined to entertain the writ petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution of India,” the bench said in its September 1 order.
The PIL had also challenged curbs placed on photography, videography, interviews, audio recording and live-streaming from government schools.
It had specifically challenged an August 16 circular issued by Rajasthan’s director of secondary education, requiring outsiders to obtain prior permission from the principal before entering the premises of a government school.
According to the circular, prior written permission for photography, videography, interviews, audio recording and livestreaming is also needed.
The plea had also challenged the August 19 order issued by the district basic education officer, Ayodhya, directing that outsiders, YouTubers and persons associated with social media should not enter council schools or take photographs or videos without permission from the competent authority.
It had said similar orders have been issued in other districts of Uttar Pradesh as well.
This post was last modified on September 3, 2026 6:34 pm