MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Friday granted interim relief to over 500 private unaided and minority schools across Maharashtra, staying notices and appointment orders issued by the state government to compulsorily deploy its teachers for Census 2027 duties.iiMumbai, India - May 16, 2026: In areas such as Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar ward, teachers appointed for the census duty are doing recce of their assigned locations on day 1 of census in city along with Asha workers in Mumbai, India, on Saturday, May 16, 2026. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)A vacation bench of justices Gautam A Ankhad and Sandesh D Patil held that teachers employed in unaided educational institutions cannot be deputed for census duties, as provisions of the Census Act do not apply to them.Representatives of private unaided and minority schools, including The Unaided Schools Forum, had filed a petition challenging the government’s deployment notice, issued under the provisions of the Census Act, 1948, and the Census Rules, 1990. The petition said the order to deploy teachers for census duties was illegal and violated their fundamental rights, as it amounted to an “unwarranted interference with the administration of such institutions and disrupt the imparting of education”.The Centre had announced in June 2025 that the next decennial census would be conducted in phases between 2026 and 2027. According to the petition, between November 2025 and March 2026, private unaided and minority schools in Maharashtra received communications from the state government directing them to furnish details about their teaching and non-teaching staff for their appointment as enumerators or supervisors for the upcoming census. The notices stated that “coercive action would be taken against non-complying schools under the provisions of the Census Act,” the petition said.Subsequently, many such schools responded to the authorities, stating that the provisions of the Census Act do not apply to them. As such, their staff cannot be requisitioned or deployed for non-educational purposes, particularly during school hours, as it would adversely affect the imparting of education to students, the petition said.Despite this, several school teachers were unilaterally appointed as enumerators or supervisors without the schools being given an opportunity to object, the petition added.“Inexplicably, a substantial number of teachers from each school have been appointed for census duties, leaving only a minimal number of teachers available to carry out academic work. In several cases, the entirety of the teaching staff has been requisitioned,” the petition said.It added that the census duties extend for over a year and require teachers to be physically present outside the school during working hours, between 9.30 am and 5.30 pm, every day.Since the petitioners claimed they were not bound by the Census Act, the teachers refused to report for duty. Following this, the government issued follow-up and show-cause notices between February and April 2016, alleging non-compliance. The authorities ordered the teachers to immediately report for census duty and explain why penal action should not be taken against them, the petition said.In some cases, the petitioners claimed, the government initiated criminal proceedings against teachers for allegedly failing to comply with its order, which was wholly “unreasonable, excessive and disproportionate”.During the hearing, senior advocate Venkatesh Dhond, appearing for the petitioners, said that requisitioning almost the entire teaching staff from individual schools will make it impossible for them to function in any meaningful manner.“Almost the entirety of the teaching force would remain unavailable to conduct classes, which would inevitably result in complete disruption of academic activities and closure of school,” he said, while urging the court to issue directions for quashing the government’s notices.On the other hand, government pleader Anjali Helekar and additional government pleader Jyoti Chavan argued that the census is one of the largest administrative and statistical exercises undertaken in the country, requiring coordinated participation of various departments and personnel. Since most of the schools are presently closed for summer vacation, “there would not be any disruption to academic activities or prejudice to students,” they said.However, the court noted that section 4A of the Census Act obligates only a “local authority” to make its staff available for census operations, and that private unaided schools don’t fall under this definition.Rejecting the state government’s reliance on section 27 of the Right to Education Act, which deals with the deployment of teachers for non-educational purposes, the bench said that “it cannot be construed as an independent source of substantive power authorising compulsory requisition of teachers in the absence of a specific enabling provision under the Census Act itself”.It further noted that substantial teaching staff attached to several schools have been requisitioned for census duties, which “will disrupt the regular academic activities and impair the right of students to uninterrupted education”. Therefore, interim protection cannot be denied, it said, before staying the implementation of the notices, communications, appointment orders and consequential actions issued by the government.