Supreme Court Puts Class 6 Exemption Question to Centre Again in CBSE Language Policy Case

The Supreme Court on Thursday again asked the Central government to consider giving students currently in Class 6 an option to opt out of the CBSE's three-language policy for the current academic year, Bar & Bench reported. The Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was hearing petitions challenging the policy, which the outlet said requires students to study three languages from Class 6 to Class 9, with at least two being Indian languages, starting from the ongoing 2026-2027 academic year. The Court framed the suggestion as being in the interest of the comfort of students and families rather than a comment on the policy's validity, according to the report. ^{[1] [1]}

Bar & Bench reported that Justice Bagchi said the Court was not standing in the way of the policy and would decide the core legal issues at the final hearing, including questions over which languages qualify as indigenous. According to the outlet, he suggested that the option be extended to current Class 6 students while the new policy become mandatory for students entering Class 6 from 2027 onwards, and the Court noted the policy had been envisaged in 2020 but implemented only in the early months of 2026, which would give families and schools time to adjust. The Court also indicated that relaxations already being considered for the current batches of Classes 7 to 10 could be extended to the present Class 6 batch, the report said. ^{[1] [1] [1] [1]}

Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati agreed to take the suggestion back to the Centre for reconsideration, telling the Court that some forms of relaxation are already being extended to students in other classes and that the Centre will examine whether a similar accommodation can be given to the current Class 6 batch, according to Bar & Bench. The matter is listed for its next hearing on September 23, the outlet reported. ^{[1] [1]}

The Indian Express, in a PTI-bylined report dated September 10 and updated September 11, had earlier reported a related suggestion from the Court at a prior hearing: the Bench asked the Board to consider exempting Class 6 students for this academic year, telling Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the students could be given some accommodation, while deferring the hearing on the pleas to September 17. The report said Mehta asked for the deferral because Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati was unavailable and assured that officials would consider the suggestion. ^{[3] [3]}

The same report said the study of three languages, including at least two native Indian languages, has been made compulsory for Class 9 students beginning July 1 under a circular issued by the CBSE, as part of aligning its scheme of studies with the National Education Policy 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023. It also recorded that a senior counsel for one of the petitioners argued the CBSE has no jurisdiction or authority to frame the curriculum for Classes 6 to 8, contending that this must be done by the NCERT. ^{[3] [3]}

The captured primary document, a May 12, 2026 judgment, concerns a Rajasthan appeal over the inclusion of the Rajasthani language in a teacher-recruitment examination syllabus and the use of Rajasthani as a medium of instruction, and does not address the CBSE three-language policy or the Class 6 exemption question now before the Court. Its discussion of the Kothari Commission's three-language formula and related constitutional and policy provisions belongs to that separate proceeding. ^{[2] [2]}