Bombay High Court
Rudrapriy Bharat Patil Thr His Father ... vs The Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti And Ors on 20 August, 2024
Author: A.S. Chandurkar
Bench: A.S. Chandurkar
2024:BHC-AS:33314-DB
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BDP-SPS-
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
WRIT PETITION NO. 5995 OF 2023
Shivali Krishna Shinde
Through her father-
Krishna Ganpati Shinde and Others ....Petitioners.
V/s
The Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti
and Others .... Respondents.
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO.5496 OF 2023
Rudrapriy Bharat Patil
Through his father-
Bharat Shamrao Patil & Others .... Petitioners.
V/s
The Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti
and Others .... Respondents.
WITH
WRIT PETITION NO.138 OF 2024
Tejas Balaso Kasar
Through his father-
Balaso Bhikaji Kasar & Others .... Petitioners.
V/s
The Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti
and Others .... Respondents.
----
Mr. Nitin P. Deshpande, Advocate for the petitioners in all the above
writ petitions (through V.C.)
Ms. Neeta V. Masurkar a/w Ms. Nieyaati Masurkar, Advocates for the
respondent.
-----
CORAM: A.S. CHANDURKAR &
RAJESH S. PATIL, JJ.
The arguments were heard on : 25.07.2024
The order is pronounced on : 20.08.2024
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P.C.:-
1] In these writ petitions, the petitioners who are minor students
have approached this Court through their respective guardians seeking
to raise a challenge to Clause 4.1 of the Prospectus for Jawahar
Navodaya Vidyalaya Selection Test-2022 for seeking admission to Class-
VI. It is the case of each petitioner that on account of various reasons
they are required to reside away from their parents. They claim that
admission to Class-VI of Navodaya Vidyalaya has been denied to them
for this reason. The writ petitions were filed when Academic Session
2023-24 had commenced.
2] On 11/10/2023 when the writ petitions were considered for
admission it was noted that according to the petitioners the cause of
action in their favour had arisen sometime in March, 2022. A period of
one and half year had passed and hence the petitioners were permitted
to make a request/application to the respective Jawahar Navodaya
Vidyalayas for seeking admission. It was directed that if the petitioners
could not be granted admission then the reason for the same be
specified. Pursuant to the aforesaid, the petitioners made such
applications and on 31/10/2023 each petitioner was issued a
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communication stating therein that the applications moved for seeking
admission to Class-VII had been considered. In view of Clause 4.1 of
the Prospectus, a candidate seeking admission was required to apply
from the District of which he/she is a bonafide resident. Since the
petitioners failed to produce relevant certificates/documents pertaining
to the District in which they desired to take admission, the same could
not be granted. By amending the writ petitions, this communication is
under challenge.
3] Mr. Nitin Deshpande, the learned counsel for the petitioners
submitted that denial of admission to the petitioners only on the
ground that the petitioners were staying away from their parents was
unjustified. According to him, for various compelling reasons the
petitioners were required to stay away from their parents and take
education in the adjoining district. Merely on this ground they could
not have been denied admission to Class-VI and thereafter Class-VII. By
denying admission to the petitioners for such reason the object behind
establishment of Navodaya Vidyalaya was defeated and the petitioners
were prevented from having quality education. The impugned
communication dated 31/10/2023 was not in consonance with the
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Prospectus and hence the petitioners could not have been denied
admission. Inviting attention to the judgment of the Delhi High Court
in Sirjeet Kumar vs. Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, 2023 SCC OnLine
Del 1638, Shrishti Kumari through her next friend and natural father
Mr. Santosh Kumar vs. Jawahar Navodaya Vidyala and others, W.P.(C)
6440/2024 decided on 21/05/2024, it was submitted that the
impugned communication be set aside and the petitioners be granted
admission. On the aspect of delay on the part of the petitioners in
approaching this Court, reliance was placed on the decision in Dr.
Kashinath G. Jalmi and another vs. The Speaker and others , (1993) 2
SCC 703 to urge that the grievance raised by the petitioners ought to be
redressed by entertaining the writ petitions.
4] Ms. Neeta Masurkar, the learned counsel appearing for the
respondents opposed the writ petitions. She submitted that since the
petitioners failed to submit documents in accordance with Clause 4.1 of
the Prospectus they were denied admission. Referring to Clause 3.1 of
the Prospectus, it was submitted that there was no vested right in
favour of the petitioners for seeking admission. The same was subject
to producing all the relevant certificates and documents as prescribed.
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Referring to the affidavit in reply filed on behalf of the respondent it
was submitted that the action taken was in accordance with the
Prospectus and there was no illegality in denying admission. She
invited attention to the judgment of the Division Bench of this Court in
Kum Shubham Vijay Patil and others vs. The Navodaya Vidyalaya
Samiti and others in Writ Petition No.9310 of 2022 with connected writ
petitions decided on 13/10/2022 to submit that a similar contention
was considered therein and turned down. Subject to the petitioners
satisfying the relevant clauses of the Prospectus they could be granted
admission. It was further submitted that the petitioners had sought
admission in Class-VI in 2022-23 after which two academic years had
passed. Even on this ground, the petitioners were not entitled to any
relief whatsoever. It was thus submitted that the writ petitions were
liable to be dismissed.
5] We have heard the learned counsel for the parties and perused
the documents on record. The impugned communication dated
31/10/2023 indicates that for failure to supply relevant documents in
accordance with Clause 4.1 of the Prospectus, the petitioners were
found to be ineligible for admission. As per Clause 4.1, it is only for
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candidates from the district concerned where a Jawahar Navodaya
Vidyalaya has been opened is it permissible to apply for admission.
Clause 3.1 of the Prospectus requires a selected candidate to produce
all the relevant documents prescribed before being finally selected. As
per the communication dated 14/03/2022 issued by Deputy
Commissioner (Exam) to the Deputy Commissioner, Navodaya
Vidyalaya Samiti, proof of residence or any other official document of
the parents pertaining to district in which admission was sought was
required to be produced. The requirement prescribed is because a
candidate studying in Class-V in a particular district is entitled to seek
admission at the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in that district alone.
6] The provisions of Clause 4.1 of the Prospectus was the subject
matter of consideration in Ku. Shubham Vijay Patil and others (supra).
In paragraph 9, it has been held as under:-
"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
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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
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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."
From the aforesaid, it becomes clear that a candidate seeking
admission to the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya is required to satisfy the
twin test, namely he must be studying in Class-V in the concerned
district where the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya is situated and he must
be a resident of that district where he seeks admission at the Jawahar
Navodaya Vidyalaya. The Special Leave Petition challenging this
judgment has been dismissed on 04/11/2022. We do not find any
reason to take a different view of the matter on the basis of the
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judgment of the learned Single Judge of the Delhi High Court in
Sirjeet Kumar (supra)
7] It is true that the petitioners are studying away from their
parents in a different district. However, as a matter of policy the
Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti has imposed condition that a candidate
seeking admission at the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya must be
studying in Class-V of recognized School in that very district where the
Vidyalaya is situated. After noticing that students from other districts
were also seeking admission in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, this
policy has been framed. It therefore cannot be said that there is
anything arbitrary in the insistence of requiring candidates to produce
documents of residence of the same district where they desire to take
admission at a Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya.
8] For the aforesaid reasons we do not find that the petitioners are
entitled for any relief whatsoever. The writ petitions are therefore
dismissed with no order as to costs.
[ RAJESH S. PATIL, J. ] [ A.S. CHANDURKAR, J.]
