Lucknow, July 8 -- In a major relief to the state government, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Monday dismissed both the writ petitions challenging the state government's June 16 order for the merger of government-run primary schools and upper primary schools. A single judge bench of Justice Pankaj Bhatia passed the order on Monday. The court completed the hearing on July 4 and reserved the judgement after a detailed hearing for two days, in which the petitioner sought stay on the government order for merger of primary schools while the state government justified its decision. The hearing in the case began on July 3. Fifty-one students from Sitapur - 50 from a primary school and one from the upper primary section - approached the high court challenging the June 16 order of the state government for the merger of primary schools across UP. They moved the court through their guardian. They opposed the merger, stating that it will cause difficulties for children who will have to travel farther to reach their new schools, affecting their right to free and compulsory education. Additional advocate general (AAG) Anuj Kudesia and chief standing counsel (CSC) Shailendra Kumar Singh presented the state government's views in court. The government counsel apprised the court about such primary schools that have zero students. They also informed the court about primary schools where the strength of students was less than 15. Defending the merger of primary schools, the government counsel pointed out that the merger of schools was in the larger interest of students. They said there will be more social activity and scope for development for a student who is relocated from a school having a few students to a school having 300 students. Senior advocate LP Mishra and advocate Gaurav Mehrotra represented the petitioners in court. Mishra argued that the state government's June 16 order for the merger of primary schools violates Article 21A of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to free and compulsory education for children between the ages of 6 and 14 years and a school within one km for a village having a population of 300. There are around 1.40 lakh primary schools across the state run by the Basic Education department of the state government....