In a big relief to hassled parents, the Supreme Court today cleared the decks for nursery admissions in the national capital by ending all litigations on it and directed Delhi government to accommodate 24 students whose parents approached it under the inter-state transfer category.
Bringing an end to the five-month long uncertainity over nursery admissions, the apex court, which disposed of all pending litigations before it and the Delhi High Court, said its order "would not benefit those who had not approached the Court or might have gone in slumber."
A bench headed by Justice H L Dattu expressed its displeasure against the Delhi administration for altering the admission process midway and not sorting out the problems of accommodating the children falling in the inter-state transfer category.
The bench, also comprising justices M Y Eqbal and S A Bobde, expressed anguish that admissions of these 24 children were cancelled due to scrapping of controversial notification of February 27, 2014 by deleting points for Inter State Transfer.
"In the facts and circumstances of the case, would it be proper for the children whose parents have been transferred to Delhi from different States of India to be denied admission in the schools much less the non-aided schools because of the instructions issued by the Government through its Education Department," the bench wondered.
"In our considered opinion, it was not permissible for the Administration to alter the basis of admission after the admission process had started and further having participated in the selection process the criteria for selection could not have been questioned by unsuccessful participants," it said.
"In spite of several opportunities given to the Delhi Administration, it has not been able to sort out the problems of accommodating the children of the appellants to the entry level, whose admission has been cancelled due to deletion of Inter-State Transfer points vide Notification dated 27th February, 2014," the bench said.
"In the circumstances, we direct that the admissions already granted to the appellants' children shall not be disturbed on the basis of impugned Notification dated 27th February, 2014 deleting points for Inter State Transfer. These children shall continue their study in those schools where they got admitted or selected for admission," the bench said.
