Supreme Court seeks govt's reply on plea against prayers in Kendriya Vidyalaya schools

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notices to the central government, asking it to explain the religious nature of the assembly prayers in Kendriya Vidyalayas which a petition claimed was against sentiments of atheists, agnostics, rationalists and minorities.

Revised rules mandate that all students of the state-run school chain compulsorily sing these prayers with folded hands and closed eyes. But a public interest litigation (PIL), filed by advocate Pallavi Sharma on behalf of Veenayak Shah, claimed that this is a serious infraction of the Constitution which bars religious training in any state-funded body. These prayers are Hindu in nature, the petition argued.

A two-judge bench, comprising Justices Rohinton F Nariman and Navin Sinha, issued notices to the human resource development ministry in response to the petition. “It involves a serious constitutional issue,” the bench said.


The assembly prayers, which include a Hindi prayer and two Sanskrit shlokas, were introduced in Kendriya Vidyalayas under the revised education code of Kendra Vidyalaya Sangathan. Shah objected to the rules on the grounds that teachers ensure that those who do not recite the prayers are humiliated.

Errant teachers are reprimanded by the principal. “As a result, parents and children of minority communities, atheists… agnostics, sceptics, rationalists and others find imposition of this prayer constitutionally impermissible,” the petition said.