AARIN Vs. KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA SANGATHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners, who are aged about 5 years but yet to complete 6 years as on 31/3/2022, have approached this Court assailing the admission criteria for the academic year 2022-23 issued by the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (hereinafter referred to as 'KVS') on 24/2/2022, which prescribes the minimum age for admission of a student in Class-I as 6 years or above.

(2.) On 24/2/2022, the respondent no.1 issued guidelines for admission to all KVS with effect from the academic year 2022-23. According to these guidelines, a child must be 6 years old as on the 31st March of the academic year in which admission was being sought to Class-I. This newly introduced criteria superseded the earlier criteria for admission which permitted the children who were 5 years or more as on the 31st March of the relevant academic year to apply for admission to Class-I. The petitioners, who will turn 6 years on or after 1/4/2022 and are therefore ineligible to apply for Class-I as per the impugned guidelines have, therefore approached this Court.

(3.) At the very outset, it may be noted that even though, in the writ petition, the petitioners have sought quashing of the guidelines with a direction to the respondents to reframe the guidelines, during the course of arguments, the petitioners have confined their relief only to this academic year and therefore their grievance is primarily relating to the issuance of these guidelines increasing the minimum age for admission to Class-I by one year just before the start of the academic year, which they urge, is wholly arbitrary.