The Hindu : New Delhi News : Judgment on minorities’ schools stayed

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Tuesday, Nov 27, 2007
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Judgment on minorities’ schools stayed

Staff Reporter

The decision on an appeal by NGO Social Jurist
The Bench to hear the appeal next Monday

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday stayed its earlier judgment holding that schools run by minority communities are not obliged to follow the “points system” recommended by the Ganguly Committee for admissions to pre-nursery and nursery classes in unaided public schools here.

A Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice M.K. Sharma and Justice Sanjiv Khanna stayed the operation of the judgment on an appeal by Ashok Aggarwal of a voluntary organisation, Social Jurist. The Bench said it would hear the appeal next Monday.

Mr. Aggarwal submitted that the State could interfere in the affairs of these schools if it found that they were suffering from maladministration. He said the profit motive had also afflicted these schools. Therefore, the State had the moral duty to regulate them in public interests.

Dismissing a petition in February this year filed by the father of a girl child who was denied admission to nursery class by Montfort Senior Secondary School at Ashok Vihar because she did not fulfil the criteria evolved by the school management, Justice B.D. Ahmed had held that in so far as the schools run by minority communities were concerned, their rights had been clearly safeguarded not only with regard to admitting children of the minority communities but of children in general. Counsel for the school management, Romy Chaco, had submitted that the criteria evolved by his client for admissions to pre-nursery and nursery classes favoured children belonging to the economically weaker sections, while the Ganguly Committee recommendations favoured the rich.

The Committee had safeguarded the rights of the minority institutions in the matter of admissions, Mr. Chaco had submitted.

The High Court had set up the Committee under CBSE chairman Ashok Ganguly to suggest an alternative formula to interviews for admissions to the two standards.

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