Delhi Public School (DPS), Ranchi has withdrawn the affidavit related to a single girl child with immediate effect, discharging all liabilities of the parents who have submitted the said affidavit in the past.
The school management’s action has come after a PIl was filed by Jharkhand Abhibhawak Manch, a parents’ association.
Petitioner’s advocate Khusboo Kataruka Modi placed the said notice before a division bench comprising Chief Justice Virender Singh and Justice PP Bhatt. The court later disposed of the matter in the view of the impugned affidavit.
The PIl was filed against DPS Ranchi circular making it mandatory for parents of a single girl child to sign an affidavit as a part of admission procedure that they did not intend to have another child in the future.
DPS, Ranchi, a unit of DPS Society, has been taking this undertaking from parents seeking admission for their girl child for the past few years, giving its own reasons.
Jharkhand Abhibhawak Manch had filed the public interest litigation, seeking judicial intervention in the matter. “Such things have direct psychological effect on respective parents and moreover it a violation of human rights. No institutions have the right to do so without citing any valid reasons,” said president of Jharkhand Abhibhawak Manch, Ajay Rai.
The court, on November 24, had observed that it was wrong to demand such an affidavit from parents. It also sent notices to the state government, DPS Ranchi and its regulating body DPS Society in Delhi.
“Approximately 100 parents have filed the affidavit, agreeing with the terms and conditions on the single girl child policy issued by the DPS society a few years back as one of the criteria for admitting students in the elementary class,” added Rai.