LUCKNOW, July 24 -- In an important judgment, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Thursday ordered to maintain the status quo on the merger of primary schools in Sitapur district and also pointed out that the interim order has nothing to do with the merit of the state government's policy and its implementation. The court has fixed the next hearing of the case on August 21.

The high court passed the order only for Sitapur district after it noticed certain glaring discrepancies with respect to merger of schools there during hearing of the case. A division bench of Chief Justice Arun Bhansali and Justice Jaspreet Singh passed the order on two petitions-one by 5 children and the other by 17 children from Sitapur district through...