MINOR K. T. SRIVATSAN Vs. SAINIK SCHOOLS SOCIETY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These writ petitions pertain to selection process of students in Sainik Schools. The respective petitioners in these writ petitions have applied for admission to Class-VI in the Sainik Schools. But according to them, they were denied admission despite being meritorious, purely on medical grounds i.e., for the reason that they were overweight and some of them in addition to being overweight, have phimosis. The appeals against the decision of the medical board namely, the Military Hospital, Chennai, declaring the petitioners as medically unfit for selection was also rejected by the Dean of Coimbatore Medical College Hospital, Coimbatore on 8/6/2022.

(2.) The respective petitioners have challenged the provisional selection list issued by the respondents excluding their names despite being meritorious, only on the ground that they were medically unfit due to overweight / phimosis. Sainik Schools are a system of schools in India established and managed by the Sainik Schools Society under Ministry of Defence (Mod). They were conceived in 1961 by V.K.Krishna Menon, the then Defence Minister of India, to rectify the regional and class imbalance amongst the Officer cadre of the Indian Military and to prepare students mentally and physically for entry into the National Defence Academy (NDA) and Indian Naval Academy (INA).

(3.) Ministry of Defence run Sainik Schools as joint venture with the respective State Governments. Ministry of Defence provides annual funding, and serving officers in the key roles i.e., Principal. State Governments provide the land, infrastructure and other teaching and administrative employees. Sainik Schools follow the "CBSE Plus" by using CBSE curriculum while additionally aiming to prepare the children for entering into Indian Defence Academy and Indian Naval Academy. Admission to Sainik Schools is granted from class VI. The reservation policy caters for SC/ST, domicile of the respective States and the wards of Armed Forces employees and ex-servicemen. Sainik schools are ordinary citizen's public school where deserving students get high-quality education irrespective of their income or class background. Seats are reserved for children of SC/ST and serving/retired defence personnel.