Nursery admission: HC refuses stay on quashing of point system

The Delhi High Court today refused to stay its single judge verdict quashing the point system for nursery admission brought in by the Lieutenant Governor for private unaided schools here, saying the order was passed after hearing arguments for several months.
A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice R S Endlaw said that it does not find any strong prima facie case to "allow a state of affairs which has been found and declared to be illegal, to continue even for a day more".
The court dismissed two applications for interim stay, saying, "The essential ingredients of balance of convenience, irreparable loss and injury are absolutely lacking in the applications for interim relief".

"Once a judge of this court has after hearing arguments spanning over months held so, we would not be justified, in the facts and circumstances of the case, to allow a state of affairs which has been found and declared to be illegal, to continue even for a day more, without finding a very strong prima facie case and which at this moment, we do not.
"We reiterate that the only effect of non-grant of the interim stay sought would be that instead of one child another child may be admitted to the nursery classes in some of the unaided recognized schools of Delhi. To us, at this stage, all children are equal and we do not find this to be a ground for us to grant any interim stay," it said.

The court, however, said it will hear the main appeal on merit on January 15, 2015, the next date of hearing.
The order came on two different pleas moved by the Delhi government's Directorate of Education (DoE) and an NGO Social Jurist. They sought interim stay of the single judge order contending that the judgment if allowed to stand would come in the way of the admission to nursery classes in unaided recognized schools of Delhi for the academic year 2015, the process for which is likely to begin soon.