Delhi High Court - Orders
Prince Sharma vs Govt Of Nct Of Delhi & Anr on 10 October, 2023
Author: Anup Jairam Bhambhani
Bench: Anup Jairam Bhambhani
$~39
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ W.P.(C) 8162/2023
PRINCE SHARMA ..... Petitioner
Through: Mr. Aayush Agarwala, Mr. Siddham
Nahata and Mr. Auritro Mukerjee,
Advocates.
versus
GOVT OF NCT OF DELHI & ANR. ..... Respondents
Through: Mr. Utkarsh Singh, Advocate for Mr.
Santosh Kumar Tripathi, Standing
Counsel (Civil) for DoE.
Counsel for R-2 (appearance not
given).
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANUP JAIRAM BHAMBHANI
ORDER
% 10.10.2023 Counter-affidavit filed by respondent No.2/Titiksha Public School, Sector-11, Rohini is on record.
2. However, counter-affidavit filed by respondent No.1/Directorate of Education ('DoE') is lying under Registry objections, viz. that the documents filed alongwith the counter-affidavit have not been bookmarked. Let the objections be cleared by respondent No.1 and let the counter-affidavit be brought on record, within 01 week.
3. Mr. Aayush Agarwala, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner seeks time to file rejoinders. Let rejoinders be filed positively before the next date; with copies to the opposing counsel.
4. Mr. Agarwala submits that in the counter-affidavit filed by respondent No.2, the school has taken only one essential ground for declining admission to the petitioner, which is, that according to the school, This is a digitally signed order. W.P.(C) 8162/2023 Page 1 of 5 The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 14/10/2023 at 14:12:34 vide communication dated 14.03.2023 the petitioner had 'requested' the school as well as the DoE, to cancel his ward's admission, since there was a mismatch of addresses as between the one furnished in the online application and the address appearing on the petitioner's Aadhaar Card. Furthermore, according to the school, the petitioner had also 'requested' that the admission be cancelled since he is unable to submit the original documents certifying his income status.
5. In this regard, Mr. Aggarwal draws attention to the documents appended as Annexure R-2/1 (Colly) and Annexure R-2/2 (Colly) to the counter-affidavit of respondent No.2, which purport to be copies of the letter and e-mail, stated to have been sent by the petitioner requesting cancellation of the allotment of seat made to his ward.
6. Mr. Aggarwal submits that quite apart from it being totally counter-
intuitive that the petitioner would write such a communication to the school or to the DoE, the fact is that even today, by way of the present petition, the petitioner is asserting his right to be granted admission to the school based on the allotment of seat made by the DoE.
7. Mr. Utkarsh Singh, learned counsel appearing on behalf of Mr. Santosh Kumar Tripathi, Standing Counsel (Civil) for respondent No.1/DoE submits, that in any event, if a parent requests cancellation of allotment of a seat made by the DoE, the school is required to update such information on the MIS Portal maintained by the DoE, which the school has not done in the present case.
8. On the other hand, learned counsel appearing for respondent No. 2 school submits, that on the basis of the communication addressed by the petitioner, and in conformity with circular dated 14.03.2023 This is a digitally signed order. W.P.(C) 8162/2023 Page 2 of 5 The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 14/10/2023 at 14:12:34 issued by the DoE which mandates a school to cross-check the particulars of a candidate and deny admission in the event of any discrepancy, the school has rightly not admitted the petitioner.
9. However, when the attention of counsel for respondent No. 2 school is drawn to the decision of a Co-ordinate Bench of this court in Rameshwar Jha vs. Richmond Global School1, which holds that it is not for the school to enter upon an inquiry into such particulars, the counsel offers no cogent answer. The relevant extract of the judgment is as follows :
"123. It is high time that the judiciary reaches the people and not wait for the people to reach out to the judiciary, as the poor kids are being forced in the instant set of petitions to knock the doors of the Court for availing their Fundamental Right to Education. In view of the aforesaid analysis as well as to alleviate and ameliorate the miserable state of affairs as prevalent in the NCT of Delhi qua implementation of the RTE Act at elementary education level, it is pertinent to exercise the powers of this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution to issue directions to the DoE for ensuring admission to the poor children belonging to weaker sections. It is accordingly directed as under:
***** b. All such schools as aforementioned shall also ensure that no student, belonging to 'Weaker Sections' as defined in the RTE Act and recommended by the DoE for being admitted in an Academic Session, shall be denied admission or treated with conduct that is unwelcoming of them on any pretext whatsoever including that of suspicion of credentials;
***** 1 2022 SCC OnLine Del 4438 This is a digitally signed order. W.P.(C) 8162/2023 Page 3 of 5 The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 14/10/2023 at 14:12:35 "124. The schools have inter alia raised a contention regarding frauds being committed by the parents of the students seeking admission, misrepresenting themselves as belonging to weaker section by forging documents and adopting other scrupulous means. In that regard, having considered the entire scheme of Act as well as the Rules and the various rulings passed by the Courts, this Court deems it fit, under the provisions/scheme as notified under the RTE Act/Delhi RTE Rules, to direct the DoE to carry out necessary screening as well as to mandate the submission of necessary documents to authenticate the credentials of the child and his/her parents and to verify the facts regarding eligibility while shortlisting, allotting and notifying the candidates who are found fit for admission to respective neighborhood schools under the said quota.
"125. However, it is made clear that the admission of a student shortlisted and allotted under the said category by the DoE for being admitted shall not be denied for want of satisfaction of bona fides of the candidate by the school. Mere suspicion or doubt on the credentials of the candidate on the basis of fact-finding exercise carried out by the school, cannot be a ground to deny admission, otherwise it will render a death-knell to the spirit of the RTE Act. The schools as such, in the matters of admission under the Act/Rules, cannot bestow upon themselves the roles of the complainant, advocate as well as the adjudicator in such cases.
Rather, if despite the due process adopted by the DoE for screening, in case the school, after admitting the child, suspects fraud being committed by the ward or their parents, they can seek recourse to legal remedies as available."
(emphasis supplied)
10. By way of order dated 02.06.2023 made in the present proceedings, respondent No.2 school was directed to reserve a seat for the petitioner's ward - Nityam Sharma - against the allotment of seat made to him by the DoE in Class-I for the Academic Session 2023- 2024 in the EWS/DG Category.
This is a digitally signed order. W.P.(C) 8162/2023 Page 4 of 5The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 14/10/2023 at 14:12:35
11. Considering that substantial time has already passed, and in order to ensure that the petitioner's ward does not waste an academic year, the school is now directed to grant provisional admission to the petitioner's ward in Class-I under the EWS/DG Category for the Academic Session 2023-2024 forthwith.
12. Re-notify for consideration on 14th February 2024.
ANUP JAIRAM BHAMBHANI, J OCTOBER 10, 2023/ak This is a digitally signed order. W.P.(C) 8162/2023 Page 5 of 5 The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 14/10/2023 at 14:12:35