In a setback to the Kejriwal Government, the Delhi High Court (HC) on Thursday stayed its order to scrap management quota as well as 11 other criteria regarding nursery admissions in private schools , saying it was issued “without any authority”. The HC had earlier said the January 6 Government order was not valid as it was not issued by the lieutenant-Governor.
Reacting to the HC’s order, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that the Government will file a review petition in the HC.
The court in its interim order said, “There is nothing in the 11 criteria which would show that they are unreasonable or based on whims and fancies and/or they can lead to mal-administration.” The 11 criteria include those relating to the proven track record of parents, their proficiency in music or sports, their empirical achievements, the gender of the child and whether the kid was the first born or adopted. However, the court allowed only one criteria out of 62 criteria listed by the Arvind Kejriwal Government.
Justice Manmohan said that the Government’s January 6, 2016, decision on nursery admissions in private unaided schools was in violation with the lieutenant Governor’s 2007 order.
The court further stated that the freedom of private schools in regard to nursery admissions cannot be limited by an office order and it has to be done under the law.
It, however, added that if there were any malpractices with regard to nursery admission criteria in private unaided schools, then they should be investigated and taken to their logical conclusion. The court clarified that the observations taken by it are only prima facie and not final.
The Delhi Government by its January 6 order had scrapped 62 “arbitrary and
discriminatory” criteria listed by schools on their websites for admissions, but retained the 25 per cent quota for Economically Weaker Sections.
The High Court was hearing pleas filed by Action Committee Unaided Recognised Private Schools and Forum for Promotion of Quality Education for all, seeking quashing of AAP Government’s decision to scrap management and all other quotas, except for EWS in Delhi’s private unaided schools for nursery admissions.
They had claimed that the order was “without jurisdiction and contrary to and violative of various judgments passed by the Supreme Court as well as by various benches of the High Court, relating to the autonomy of private unaided schools to regulate their admissions”.
In an earlier hearing, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had defended his Government’s decision to scrap the quota criteria, alleging that private unaided schools in the national Capital had become a “hub of corruption” as they were running “admission rackets” under the garb of management quota.