Baby Amna Shuja (Minor) Through ... vs Birla Vidya Niketan Public School ...
2012 Latest Caselaw 2512 Del

*           IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

+                            W.P.(C) 1178/2012

                                                   Decided on: 18.04.2012


IN THE MATTER OF
BABY AMNA SHUJA (MINOR) THROUGH FATHER/NATURAL GUARDIAN
SHUJA NABI                                     ..... Petitioner

                         Through: Mr. Sunny Arora, Advocate with
                         Ms. Shweta Goel, Advocate

                    versus


BIRLA VIDYA NIKETAN PUBLIC SCHOOL AND ANR                ..... Respondents

                         Through: Mr. Amit P. Deshpande, Advocate with
                         Ms. Vaishali Deshpande, Advocate for R-1/school.
                         Mr. Anjum Javed, Advocate for R-2/GNCTD.


CORAM
HON'BLE MS.JUSTICE HIMA KOHLI

HIMA KOHLI, J. (ORAL)

1. The present petition has been filed by the father of the

petitioner praying inter alia for directions to the respondents to admit the

petitioner in the pre-primary standard in respondent No.1/School for the

academic year 2012-13.

2. It is averred in the writ petition that respondent No.1/School

had arbitrarily awarded only 40 points to the petitioner, whereas the

petitioner is eligible for being awarded 65 points. In other words, the

petitioner had claimed an additional 15 points on account of falling in the

category of neighbourhood residence, as it was contended that her

residence is within the radius of 5 kilometers from the school and an

additional 10 points being a girl child, which it is stated, respondent

No.1/School has arbitrarily declined.

3. On 06.03.2012, counsel for respondent No.2/Directorate of

Education (DOE) had stated that a notice dated 28.02.2012 had been

issued by the Department to the Principal of respondent No.1/School,

seeking information with regard to the present case and that a reply

thereto was submitted by the said school stating inter alia that the school

had strictly adhered to the criteria of admission laid down by the

Department. However, as appearance was entered on behalf of

respondent No.1/school on the said date, time was granted to both the

respondents to file their counter affidavits/status reports.

4. As per the counter affidavit filed by respondent No.1/School,

it is averred that the petitioner has concealed the fact that the school had

displayed a bus route chart on its notice board that was applicable for

admission to the Nursery/KG for the academic session 2012-13. As per

the bus route chart enclosed as Annexure-A to the counter affidavit, the

locality where the petitioner is residing, namely, Chattarpur Enclave,

Phase-II, was not included in the bus route chart. It is further averred

that the criteria for admission to pre-primary school for the academic

session 2012-13 enclosed as Annexure-4 to the writ petition has been

strictly adhered to by the respondent No.1/School. The said criteria is

reproduced hereinbelow:-

             S.No.   Criterion                               Max
                                                            Points

                     Residence in area < 5 km
                     or
                     Distance beyond 5 km on school
                     bus routes using school transport





               4.    Transfer      case/Children     of       20
                     Personnel     of   Defence     and
                     Paramilitary forces

5. It is submitted by the counsel for the respondent No.1/School

that the petitioner was given 20 points each against Sr. No.2, i.e., Sibling

and Sr.No.4, i.e., Transfer Case, but she was not entitled to any points in

respect of the criterion mentioned against Sr. No.1, 3, 5, 6 and 7. He

states that the residence of the petitioner does not fall in the school bus

route and secondly, the parents of the petitioner have themselves stated

in the application form that the distance between their residence and the

school is 8.5 km and that the school transport would be required by the

petitioner. He submits that in such circumstances, the petitioner cannot

insist that the distance between respondent No.1/School and the

residence of the petitioner is less than 5 km to claim entitlement to 15

points as per Sr. No.1 of the criterion on account of Neighbourhood

Residence being less than 5 kms. He further states that it is not denied

that the petitioner is not a single girl child and that she has a sibling, who

is already studying in the school, due to which, 20 points have already

been assigned as per Sr. No.2 of the criterion and therefore, the

petitioner is not entitled to another 10 points against Sr. No.6 of the

criterion.

6. As per the status report filed by the respondent No.2/DOE,

the school had furnished the details of the points allotted to the petitioner

on the basis of the information submitted by her parents in the

application form and the said details were duly examined by the

Department and found to be correct. Counsel for respondent No.2/DOE

states that having verified the reply submitted by respondent No.1/School

to the notice issued by respondent No.2/DOE on 28.02.2012 and having

found the factual position as stated by respondent No.1/School to be

correct, there is no justification for entertaining the present petition.

7. The Court has examined the counter affidavit filed by

respondent No.1/School as also the status report filed by respondent

No.2/DOE alongwith the criteria for admission to pre-primary school laid

down by respondent No.2/DOE for the academic session 2012-13.

8. The only bone of contention is the non-grant of 15 points to

the petitioner on account of neighbourhood residence and 10 points on

account of being a girl child. A perusal of the application for admission,

submitted by the parents of the petitioner, itself bears out the stand of

the respondents that the parents of the petitioner have themselves

specified the distance between their residence and the school as 8.5 km

and ticked the column, where the applicant was asked whether school

transport would be required. The bus route chart enclosed as Annexure A

to the counter affidavit filed by respondent No.1/school reveals that the

locality where the petitioner resides, namely, Chattarpur Enclave, Phase-

II, has not been included in the bus route chart. Thus, the petitioner

cannot claim entitlement to 15 points under the Neighbourhood Criterion.

9. As regards the claim of 10 points against Sr. No.6 of the

criterion in respect of girl child/single child, it is not denied that the

petitioner is not a single girl child and that she has a sibling (sister), who

is elder to her and is already studying in the respondent No.1/School.

Thus, the petitioner is not entitled to the grant of 10 points under the

aforesaid criterion as well. As a result of the above criterion for

admission, the petitioner has obtained a total of 40 points, which is 10

points below the cut-off points of 50 and hence, she could not be

considered for admission to the pre-primary school by respondent

No.1/School.

10. In view of the aforesaid position, the present petition is

dismissed as being devoid of merits, while leaving the parties to bear

their own costs.

                                                     (HIMA KOHLI)
APRIL   18, 2012                                        JUDGE
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