Delhi HC asks Jamia to treat as representation PIL to admit OBC, EWS in Residential Coaching Academy

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday asked Jamia Millia Islamia to decide as representation a PIL seeking admission of students belonging to the OBC (non-creamy layer) category and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in its Residential Coaching Academy (RCA).

The petitioner submitted that the RCA, which is a free coaching programme for civil service aspirants, only caters to women and those from minority or SC, ST communities while arbitrarily excluding other underprivileged categories.

A bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan observed that the petitioner, Satyam Singh, a law student, directly approached the court without any prior representation and asked the university to decide the issue raised in PIL by treating it as a representation.

"This court disposes of the present writ petition with a direction to respondent no 1 (JMI) to treat it as a representation and decide the same in accordance with law in four weeks," the bench, also comprising Justice Manmeet PS Arora, said.

During the hearing, the court orally observed that the people belonging to the OBC and EWS categories were also backward and should be given the benefit of the free coaching.

"Give it to them. OBC and EWS are also backward people," it said.

The petitioner, who was represented by senior advocate Sanjay Poddar and lawyers Akash Vajpai and Ayush Saxena, asserted in the plea that the current admission policy of RCA is arbitrary and discriminates against OBC and EWS students who have limited financial means and deserve free coaching for the civil services examination.

"Limited financial means or financial constraint is not a criteria to get admission (100 seats) in the free coaching program run by the Residential Coaching Academy of Respondent No. 1.

"Student coming from minority/ SC/ ST /women category even if they are financially well-off can get the admission in the free coaching program established and funded by the Respondent No. 3 while the EWS and OBC (non-creamy layer) students who have limited financial means and deserve to be admitted in the RCA have been excluded even from applying in the Residential Coaching Academy," the petitioner said.

The plea further said the guidelines issued by the UGC for the coaching scheme includes OBC students as well as EWS and therefore RCA, which is funded by the UGC, cannot discriminate against them.