CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court has ordered the Sainik School, Rewari, to admit a student who erroneously mentioned his category as ‘defence’ in the Class VI admission form under general category.
It has directed the school to create a supplementary seat in the current academic session, as the boy was meritorious and had secured significantly high marks to be eligible for admission in general category.
The HC has also reprimanded the school authorities for filing a vague reply on the issue despite several directions and queries from the court for specific response. “It would not be out of place to deprecate the highly condemnable conduct of the respondents (school authorities) in deliberately filing such an elusive reply to the queries of this court, notwithstanding, that ample opportunities were granted... Such a conduct of litigants makes the onerous duty and position of the learned counsels, representing them, very vulnerable, for no fault of theirs,” the HC has observed.
CLASS VI STUDENT MOVES COURT
‘Give petitioner admission this academic session’
Justice Arun Monga passed these orders while hearing a petition filed by Harsh Yadav, a resident of Mahendragarh district of Haryana. He had applied for admission in Class VI in Sainik School, Rewari, and successfully cleared the entrance test and secured 252 marks.
The cut off marks in general category as per last admitted student were/are 244. The petitioner was also accordingly called for scrutiny of documents on February 28, 2020, followed by his medical in March. During the admission process, it came to light that though the petitioner belongs to “general category”, his category in the admission form was mentioned as “defence”. However, the petitioner’s father, well before the culmination of the admission process, applied for correction of this bona fide error in the online application. An affidavit dated December 11, 2019 was also sent through an email to the school authorities. But the category of the petitioner was not changed and he was not considered for admission. Aggrieved from denial of admission despite being on merit, he had approached the HC.
In its initial reply, the school authorities did not deny that petitioner was meritorious enough to be admitted in the school and he qualified in the written examination. The rigid stand of the authorities, in nutshell, was that in the online application form “defence category” was opted and as such, he was and can only be considered under the same category.
On this, the HC on October 12 and subsequent occasions, asked the details if there is any vacant seat currently available to adjust the petitioner as he is more meritorious than the last candidate selected in his category. The HC asked the school to take a lenient view and not adopt a rigid and pedantic approach, keeping in view the overall interest of the child.
However, no appropriate response regarding HC’s queries was given by the school authorities and finally on November 10, an affidavit was filed by Colonel Soumyabrata Dhar, principal, Sainik School, Rewari. It was submitted that the admission process for the academic session 2020-21 was closed on October 31, 2020, hence no candidate can be admitted at this stage.
“A perusal of the aforesaid stand taken by the respondents would reveal that qua the specific queries posed by this court, response thereof in the affidavit is as vague, evasive and ambiguous as it can be. Resultantly, this court has no choice but to draw adverse inference. In the premise, writ petition is allowed. Respondents are directed to accommodate the petitioner in the current academic session by giving him admission in Class VI and permit him to attend the online classes,” ordered the HC.