Plea on rejection of school admission dismissed

Observing that the distance may not be a factor to be considered for rejection as the parents must be given an opportunity to shift the residence to get admission for their ward in school, Justice S Vaidyanathan, said, “There is no evidence or any order to show that on account of the distance, the student’s candidature has been rejected.” 

The father of the student, Raeshmi V, had submitted that though her name appeared on the provisional list, the school had denied admission to his daughter stating that they reside more that 5 km away from the school. 

While the CBSE had filed a counter petition stating that it is an issue to be resolved between the Kendriya Vidyalaya and the petitioner, the defending counsel submitted that in the on-line application form of the child, there were incorrect details with regards to income and caste. 

The distance from the school is shown as 7 kms, but the actual distance is more than 16 kms. However, the council appearing for the petitioner had relied on a high court judgement in 2017 on a similar issue, wherein the judge then had observed that a growing bud should not be denied admission on the ground of distance. 

The judge in the present case observed that the petitioner has come forward with incorrect details, said, “The applicant had shown incorrect particulars which itself shows that the petitioner is not entitled to the relief sought.”