Ayush And Another vs Union Of India And Another
2023 Latest Caselaw 1678 ALL

HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
 
 

?Court No. - 9
 

 
Case :- WRIT - C No. - 39732 of 2022
 

 
Petitioner :- Ayush And Another
 
Respondent :- Union Of India And Another
 
Counsel for Petitioner :- Vinod Kumar Tiwari
 
Counsel for Respondent :- A.S.G.I.,Rajesh Tripathi
 

 
Hon'ble Prakash Padia,J.

The petitioners have preferred the present petition inter-alia with the following prayers:-

"i. Issue a writ order or direction, in the nature of mandamus directing the respondent No.2 to decide the representation of petitioners dated 07.12.2022 pending before him within stipulated period.

ii. Issue a writ order or direction, in the nature of mandamus directing the respondent no.2 to reserve the seat in respective class for petitioner no.1 and 2 during the pendency of said writ petition."

It is argued by the counsel for the petitioners that the petitioners are entitled for their admission in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, District-Gautam Budh Nagar.

The claim set up by the petitioners was denied by the respondents on the ground that the petitioners are not a resident at District Gautam Budh Nagar and they are the resident at district- Bulandshahr, hence, they are not entitled for admission at Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Gautam Budh Nagar.

In response to the same, counsel for the petitioners placed reliance upon Clause-3.6 of the selection process, copy of which is appended as Annexure-1 to the writ petition.

On the other hand, Shri Rajesh Tripathi, learned counsel appearing on behalf of respondents placed reliance upon paragraph-9 & 10 of the judgment delivered by the Division Bench of the High Court of Judicature At Bombay in Writ Petition No. 9310 of 2022 (Ku. Shubham Vijay Patil and 18 others vs. The Novodaya Vidyalaya Samiti and 2 others) along-with connected petitions decided on 13.10.2022. Paragraph-9 & 10 of the aforesaid judgment are reads as follows:-

"9. Clause 4.1 under the caption 'Who is Eligible' also provides insights for interpreting the clauses. It states that only the candidates from the District concerned where the JNV has been opened, are eligible to apply for admission. The general rule under the said Prospectus is that only the candidates from the District concerned where the JNV has been opened, are eligible to apply for admission. Clause 3.6 further provides that the children selected on the basis of District will be admitted only in the JNV located in the District from where they are studying in class 5 and appear for the JNVST. Reading clause 3.6 and 4 conjointly and harmoniously, irresistible conclusion that can be drawn is that a candidate will be required to satisfy the twin test for being eligible to get admission in the JNV; (i) the candidate should have passed 5th standard from the District where the JNV is located; and (ii) only the candidates from the District concerned where the JNV is opened, are eligible to apply for admission. The condition of residence certificate in the prescribed proforma in case of NIOS i.e. the candidates should obtain 'B' certificate and residence should be in the same district where he is seeking admission, as provided in clause 2.1 is an additional condition imposed for clarification purpose. NIOS is a correspondence course for the students who are not able to pursue regular classes. For the said purpose, additional precautions appears to have been undertaken. The general rule of eligibility has been laid down in clause 4.1. Clause 4.1 starts with the term 'only'. It states that 'only the candidates from the district concerned where the JNVs are opened are eligible for admission'. The word 'only' implies that the students other than the District where the JNV is situated are excluded. No other interpretation is possible. We cannot persuade ourselves to accede to the arguments of the Mr.Bhavake, the learned Advocate for the Petitioners that even though the student may not be the resident of the same District where the JNV is situated and if he has passed 5th standard from the district where the JNV is situated is eligible to be admitted. Such an interpretation would be against the object and the tenor of the clauses in the prospectus. The aforesaid discussion leads us to conclude that the candidate seeking admission to the JNV must satisfy the twin test (i) he must be studying in class V in Government / Government aided or other recommended schools or B Certificate Competency Course of NIOS in the same District where the JNV is situated and (ii) he must be resident of the same district where the JNV is situated and is seeking admission.

10. In light of the above, the Writ Petitions fail. The Writ Petitions, as such are dismissed. No costs."

He further placed reliance upon the judgment delivered by the Coordinate Bench of this Court in Writ C No. 7659 of 2022 (Divyansh Thru. His Father Sri Umesh Kumar vs. U.O.I. Thru. Secy. Ministry of Education(Deptt. Of School Education And Literacy) New Delhi And Ors. decided on 03.11.2022 which reads as follows:-

"Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and Shri Nishant Shukla, learned counsel appearing for the respondent no. 2 and 3.

The instant petition has been filed praying for quashing the order dated 22.09.2022, a copy of which annexure 1 to the petition, whereby the petitioner had been informed that he cannot be given admission in the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Lucknow considering the Clause 4.1 of the prospectus which specifically provides that a student should be a resident of the district in which the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya is situated.

Learned counsel for the petitioner contends that the petitioner had applied for admission in the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Lucknow and had also been issued with an admit card but subsequent thereto the impugned order had been passed on 22.09.2022 whereby his admission has been cancelled.

On the other hand, Shri Nishant Shukla, learned counsel appearing for the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Lucknow submits that the issue in question stands settled by the judgement dated 13.10.2022 of the Bombay High Court passed in Writ Petition No. 9310 of 2022 in re: Ku. Subham Vijay Patil and others vs The Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti and others wherein clause 4.1 came up for consideration and it was held by the High Court that for a student to be admitted in a Vidyalaya in a district he has to be necessarily a resident of that district. He contends that admittedly the petitioner is a resident of the District Unnao and as such there would not be any occasion for giving him admission at Vidyalaya at Lucknow.

Having heard learned counsel for the parties and having perused the record what emerges is that the admission of the petitioner at the Vidyalaya at Lucknow had been rejected on the ground that as per clause 4.1 of the prospectus he is not a resident of the district in which the institution is situated i.e. Lucknow. Admittedly, the petitioner is a resident of the District Unnao. The clause 4.1 of the prospectus has not been challenged as such till such time the said clause continues to exist the students seeking admission / their guardians would have to adhere to the provisions of the said clause.

Considering the aforesaid as well as the judgement of the Bombay High Court in the case, no case for interference is made out and accordingly the petition is dismissed. "

After going through the aforesaid, the Court is of the opinion that controversy involved in the present petition has already been decided by the aforesaid judgments by which the claim set up by the identical students for their admission in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, has been rejected.

Considering the facts as narrated above specially in view of the law laid down by the Division Bench of Bombay High Court in the case of Ku. Shubham Vijay Patil (Supra) as well as by the judgment passed by the Coordinate Bench of this Court in the case of Divyansh (Supra), the Court is of the opinion that no relief could be granted to the petitioners, insofar as the present writ petition is concerned and liable to be dismissed.

Accordingly the writ petition is dismissed.

Order Date :- 17.1.2023

Swati