Revisit 1990 GO on nativity certificates: HC tells State govt

Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana issued the direction on coming to the rescue of medical aspirant Vardhini Parthasarathy, who kept shuttling between the Srirangam and Chennai Tahsildars for issue of nativity certificate.

Pointing out that the present case is a classic example, where the mental agony of the petitioner, a native by virtue of her parents, has been furthered by mechanically dismissing her application, the judge held that the birthplace of the parent has been included in the guidelines and the authorities cannot give a restrictive interpretation to the guidelines and instead stretch it to give a constructive meaning.

“The very purpose of issuance of the GO is to protect and uplift the native students by giving them preference in admission and to avoid the natives of other soil to grab the opportunities of Tamil Nadu candidates,” Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana noted while directing the Government to revisit GO Ms No 2388, issued on 27.11.1990, to suit the present scenario wherein the persons who have moved to various places, not only within the country, but outside the country to eke out a decent livelihood, cannot be said to have lost their nativity.

In the case on hand, the court on accounting for the single parent status of the student, said, “Any single parent, for the welfare of the child, is entitled to bring up his/her child with the aid of a suitable person in the family. Merely on that ground, the place of residence cannot be severed from that of the parent.”

Based on this, the court sought the Revenue Department to convene training sessions for the officials to enable them to exercise their power judiciously and take just decisions in this regard.