Wards of IAS officers and those posted on transferrable jobs with the Central Government will be entitled to admission this year at the Delhi’s Sanskriti School, which is the only school in the country reserving 60 per cent of seats to children of Group ‘A’ civil servants.
The top babus in the Government were a worried lot after the Delhi High Court recently stayed the notification issued by the school reserving 60 per cent seats for Group A Central Government officers, followed by 25 per cent for economically weaker sections, five per cent for wards of management, and only 10 per cent seats for general public.
While the school’s appeal against the HC order is yet to decide the correctness of having such a quota, a Bench headed by Justice AR Dave realised there was need to pass interim orders considering the fact that admission time was getting over.
The Bench on Thursday stayed the HC order for the current academic year and made it clear that under the 60 per cent seats reserved for Group ‘A’ civil servants, all Central Government employees with transferrable jobs will be free to apply. This order flowed from the suggestion made by Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who had on behalf of the Centre argued during hearing of the case that the Centre was willing to open the quota to all category of civil servants with transferrable jobs.
However, the Delhi Government objected to the Centre’s stand and backed the HC decision, which is yet to decide the fate of the notification. It pointed out that the school was situated on land allocated by the Government and thus cannot escape rules laid down under the Delhi Schools Education Act. Senior advocate Arvind Datar, who is assisting in the matter as amicus curiae, felt there was a need to examine the status of the society and how it obtained a largesse to run a school.