Jammu and Kashmir High Court has ordered private schools to maintain status quo on the government order to vacate the state’s land.

The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has directed the Union Territory authorities to maintain status quo on orders for private schools established on state land to cease operations. Justice Moksha Khajuria Kazmi passed the order on Wednesday. The court directed the state’s defendants to maintain status quo till the next hearing, which is scheduled for July 18.

The Jammu and Kashmir Private School Association had approached the High Court against an order passed by the Education Department, asking private schools to obtain a certificate of the nature of their land from the concerned revenue authorities. The Chief Education Officer of Budgam had even asked to shut down the schools established on state land and enroll their students in nearby government schools.

Issuing notice to the Union Territory Administration, the High Court has given three weeks time to file an objection on the petition. The move to shut down private schools running on state land comes after the government banned nearly a dozen schools run by the Falah-e-Aam Trust.

Hundreds of small private schools have been set up on state land throughout Jammu and Kashmir. Some prominent missionary schools are also running them on leased state land. It was not clear whether the order to close private schools on state land applies to these larger schools as well.

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