SHREYA BHATTACHARYA Vs. KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA SANGATHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Shreya Bhattacharya is the daughter of a non-commissioned Air Force officer, who seeks a seat in Class VIII in the Kendriya Vidyalaya, the second respondent school, located at the Air Force Campus, Tambaram. Her entry into the Kendriya Vidyalaya is resisted on the ground that she should have been between 12 and 14 years old on the relevant cut-off date as prescribed in the Guidelines, but the petitioner was aged 14 years and 2 months and was, therefore, ineligible. Shreya is now prosecuting her studies in Army Public School, which is about 30 km. from the Air Force Campus. It is in these circumstances, the petitioner now challenges the Guidelines of Kendriya Vidyalaya, principally on the ground that it violates Article 21A of the Constitution and Sec. 3 of the Right of Children to Free & Compulsory Education Act, 2009, (hereinafter will be referred to as the Right to Education Act) besides going against the policy of automatic admission of the children of service men.

(2.) In the counter-affidavit filed by the Deputy Commissioner of the first respondent, it is averred:

(3.) The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner earlier studied in Army Public School and in terms of the admission guidelines, wards of the service men in armed forces are entitled to automatic admission on the basis of the transfer certificate issued by the CBSE affiliated schools. He also relied on Article 21 A of the Constitution.