Delhi High Court today told the Sanskriti School here that it cannot keep its admission process pending “indefinitely” on the ground that its plea against quashing of 60 per cent quota forwards of group-A government officials was pending in the Supreme Court.
“You have to comply with the circulars of Department of Education (DoE). You can’t keep it pending indefinitely,” Justice Manmohan told the lawyer appearing for the school.
However, the court did not issue any directions on those lines and adjourned the matter to January 20, as the school’s special leave petition against high court’s November 6, 2015, order scrapping its 60 per cent quota is listed for hearing in the apex court tomorrow.
Justice Manmohan asked the school’s lawyer to inform the apex court about this petition as well.
Meanwhile, Delhi government’s additional standing counsel Gautam Narayan told the court there cannot be any such quota and “it has to go”.
Narayan also said the school cannot have its way and refuse to put up the nursery admission criteria for academic session 2016-17 on their website.
He said the school should comply with DoE’s circulars of December 8, 2015 and December 22, 2015 which mandate that the admission process should commence from January 1 and fix the last date for application as January 22.
The January 6 order asks schools “to develop and adopt criteria for admissions to the 75 per cent open seats to entry level classes for session 2016-17 which shall be well defined, non-discriminatory, unambiguous and transparent”. “However, Respondent no.4 (Sanskriti) in sheer defiance of the circulars has not uploaded the admission criteria and points for admissions of open seats at entry level classes for the academic session 2016-17,” a petition filed by a toddler’s father, advocate Dheeraj Singh, has said. The petition has sought directions to the government and DoE to ensure that the school puts up the admission criteria before the last date of application. It has also sought that DoE should take over the management of the school if it does not comply with the circulars and order. The high court had on November 6 last year quashed the 60 per cent quota in Sanskriti School, saying it was akin to the erstwhile segregation of white and black students in the US and violated the constitutional provisions of equality and right to education. It had also said that by providing such a reservation, the school created an “arbitrary separation” between the children of Group-A officers and all other students. The decision was challenged by the school in a special leave petition before the apex court. On January 7, the central government had told the apex court that wards of group B and C government employees can also be provided admission under the 60 per cent quota. The apex court has listed the matter on January 19 for passing an interim order after the government and Sanskriti sought that the school be allowed to carry out admission process under the earlier system.
source: indianexpress.com