SC dismisses plea on banning screening of children for nursery admissions

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea challenging the Delhi High Court's decision refusing to direct the lieutenant governor to give assent to or return a 2015 bill which proposed a ban on screening children for nursery admissions.

A bench of Justice SK Kaul and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia said it cannot pass a direction to enact a law.

"Can there be a mandamus to enact a law? Can we direct the government to introduce the bill? Supreme Court can't be the panacea for everything," the bench said.

The high court had on July 3 dismissed a PIL filed by NGO Social Jurist, saying it cannot interfere with the legislative procedure and direct the L-G to either give assent to the Delhi School Education (Amendment) Bill, 2015, or return it.

The organisation, through advocate Ashok Agarwal, filed the appeal in the top court saying the child-friendly bill banning the screening procedure in nursery admission in schools has been hanging between the Central and the Delhi government for the last seven years without any justification and against the public interest and opposed to public policy.

Rejecting the PIL, a division bench of the Delhi High Court had said it was not proper for a high court while exercising its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution to direct a governor, who is a constitutional authority, to set a time frame in matters which come purely within his domain.

"In the considered opinion of this court, even though the bill has been passed by the House, it is always open to the governor to agree or to send the bill back to the House and this court ought not pass a writ of mandamus directing the governor to act," the high court had said.

The appeal against the high court's judgement said it highlighted that the very objective and purpose of the 2015 bill is to protect children from exploitation and unjust discrimination in nursery admission in private schools.

The purpose of the bill was defeated by the delay, it said, adding the Delhi government had got the legislation passed by the assembly way back in 2015. The Bill, it said, was passed keeping in mind the 2013 decision of the Delhi High Court on a PIL filed by the Social Jurist.

The high court had said in 2013 that the government may consider making necessary amendments to the law to ensure that children seeking nursery admission also get the benefits of the Right to Education Act.

The 2009 law provides for free and compulsory education of all children in the age group of 6 to 14 years as a fundamental right.

The NGO said it made a representation to the authorities on March 21, 2023, requesting them to urgently finalise the Bill. However, on April 11, a response was received from the Centre stating the bill was yet to be finalised by the two governments.

It said more than 1.5 lakh admissions take place at nursery level every year in private schools in Delhi and children above three years of age are subjected to screening which is against the letter and spirit of the Right to Education Act, 2009.

It had sought the court's direction to the authorities to expedite the process of finalisation of the Bill so far as it relates to the prohibition of screening in admission at the pre-primary level.