Orissa high court CUTTACK: In a significant judgment having far reaching consequences, the Orissa high court on Tuesday invalidated the notification issued by the state school and mass education department a year ago for merger of schools with very low student strength. The high court gave the ruling while allowing a batch of 168 petitions which had challenged the merger on the ground that it violated the Odisha Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2010. The petitioners, mostly management of primary schools, had contended that as per rule, a primary school teaching students of classes I to V has to be established within a walking distance of one kilometre of the neighbourhood. In such background, the petitions contended that the decision to merge government primary schools with upper primary schools is highly arbitrary and would make it difficult for the smaller children.