The Telangana High Court Friday granted an interim stay on the immediate eviction of a private school in Hyderabad, protecting the ongoing academic year for approximately 750 students. The court stayed all further proceedings related to a batch of writ petitions filed by a dozen parents of students, concerning Radiant High School in Musheerabad, and emphasised that a private conflict should not override the constitutional rights of children.
“A dispute between a landlord and a tenant should not adversely impact 750 innocent students, and the state and the Education Department have an obligation to safeguard the interest of children and provide educational access and to ensure continuity of schooling,” the bench of Justice Surepally Nanda observed.
The petitions challenged a lower court’s eviction order dated October 7, 2025, obtained by the school’s landlord. The petitioner argued that the eviction, which came mid-session, constituted a “flagrant violation of the fundamental rights” to life and education for the children.
The court found a preliminary opinion that the actions of the officials were legally flawed, specifically noting that the impugned proceedings were passed “without jurisdiction, without following the principles of natural justice”.
The petitioners informed the court that the school currently accommodates around 750 students, aged between four and 16 years, whose academic year 2025-26 is ongoing and is scheduled to conclude on June 30, 2026.
The petitioners also pointed out that the school, operating on property owned by the fourth respondent, faces immediate eviction. The fourth respondent won a civil lawsuit for the property and recently succeeded in an execution petition, which resulted in a final court order dated October 7, mandating the school’s eviction.
While hearing the case, the court also took into consideration the representation submitted by the parents of the students to the commissioner and director of School Education (second respondent) on October 14, which had been duly acknowledged on October 16, and stressed on the “the failure on the part of the 2nd respondent to discharge its duty to affirmatively protect the rights of the 750 students under Article 21 of the Constitution”.
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The court underlined “the hardship being meted out to the petitioner herein by virtue of the final order” and directed a stay of all further eviction proceedings until November 11, and also permitted the petitioners’ counsel to take out a personal notice to the landlord. All related matters have been listed for further hearing on November 4.
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