SC lifts stay on nursery admissions; eligible students to get seats under IST quota

The Supreme Court on Wednesday lifted the stay on nursery admissions in Delhi and held that parents who have moved court against the Delhi government’s decision to scrap the Inter-State Transfer (IST) will get seats in schools for their toddlers this academic year.

The court also quashed the government’s February 27 notification by which the IST quota was scrapped. It said that the admissions shall be granted in accordance with the previous notification dated December 18, 2013, whereby eligible children got 5 extra points under IST quota.

The court directed the schools to admit such children by increasing the seats if they have to 24 children, whose parents had queued up in the apex court or the Delhi High Court against the February 27 notification are set to get relief after this order.

Earlier, supporting the parents whose genuine cases suffered after the Lt-Governor quashed the quota, the Court had last week held that it will pass orders for the government and schools for accommodating all such bonafide wards by increasing number of seats in the schools, if required.

A bench led by Justice H L Dattu said that all such parents and guardians who have come to the SC or have their cases pending before the Delhi High Court will get relief for their children.

But, “fence-sitter” parents will not have any say in the matter since they chose not to come to the court and waited for the outcome of petitions by others, the bench, while refusing to pass any “general order”, had clarified.

The court had then taken on record the submission by government counsel Raju Ramachandran that it was not possible to increase the number of seats by 5-7 in each school for the IST category. Responding to the court’s query, Ramachandran said the inability to increase seats had emerged following deliberations with the Lt-Governor and the schools. He had pleaded the bench to pass appropriate orders.

The admissions in nursery was stalled in the city by the SC on April 11 after some parents challenged the February 27 notification, scrapping the IST quota. They had come to the apex court after the HC allowed admissions without considering the IST cases.