Nursery admission row: Delhi High Court rejects AAP govt plea on neighbourhood criteria

The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed Delhi Govt's appeal against stay order of its new nursery admission norms on the neighbourhood criteria.

The government's appeal, argues that in the absence of the neighbourhood criterion, schools will accept admissions in an arbitrary and opaque manner, and even justify charging exorbitant fees from parents.                     

Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court judge had said the interim stay on the January 7 notification would remain in place till final till the pleas challenging the Delhi government order directing the private unaided schools to accept nursery admission norms based only on the neighbourhood or distance criteria.

A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal directed the single judge to decide the petitions expeditiously.

“We have dismissed the appeal (of Delhi government).We, however, have directed the single judge to decide the petitions (challenging the Delhi government’s decision) as expeditiously as possible,” the bench said. It also said that the single judge should not go by its observation made in the interim order.

The division bench was hearing an appeal filed by the AAP government against a single judge’s February 14 interim order.
The single judge had stayed Delhi government’s new nursery admission norm, saying “a student’s educational fate can’t be relegated to only his/her position on a map”.

Terming the criterion as “arbitrary and discriminatory”, Justice Manmohan had said it benefited only those parents who live close to good private schools.Challenging the interim order, the Delhi government had said that in the absence of the neighbourhood criterion, schools will accept admission in an arbitrary and opaque manner, and even justify charging exorbitant fees.

Delhi HC dismisses Delhi Govt's appeal against stay order of its new nursery admission norms pic.twitter.com/T9Ux0hIXFA

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In two directives on December 19, 2016 and January 7, the Delhi government had made it compulsory for 298 private schools built on Delhi Development Authority land to accept nursery children who live in that neighbourhood or live within a certain distance from the school.

The single judge had ordered an interim stay of the January 7 notification till the final disposal of the pleas challenging the Delhi government’s order.

The two associations, representing the schools and the parents, had alleged that the Delhi government has “discriminated” as the neighbourhood criteria had been applied against only 298 schools and not been made?mandatory for 1,400 other schools in the city.

(With PTI Input)