BENGALURU: Observing that not providing reservation to general merit students in state-run residential schools is against integration of society, the Karnataka High Court stayed the reservation circular dated April 24, 2017 issued by the state government and the entrance examination to the said schools to be held on February 18.
Justice B V Nagarathna passed this interim order after hearing the petition filed by the parents of some minor children aspiring to be admitted to the VI standard of Morarji Desai Residential Schools.
The court directed the respondent authorities to consider the applications of students who do not belong to Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Backward Class, and who are eligible to apply, the judge said after hearing petitions filed by parents of the minor children.
The court said the case prima facie established that residential schools in rural areas are not meant only for Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Backward Class students. Essentially, the said schools are meant for rural students to enjoy the benefit of quality education in residential schools, as it is difficult and unaffordable for such students to travel to cities to study, the court said.
“Such being the position, the state government could not have once again reintroduced 100 per cent reservation in such schools when it had withdrawn the same in the year 2009 by restoring 50 per cent of the seats for general merit candidates,” the court said.
Further, the court said that there cannot be discrimination between rural students by reserving 100 per cent seats in residential educational institutions run by the state such as Morarji Desai, Kittur Rani Chennamma and Atal Bihari Vajpayee and other such residential schools only for certain persons – those belonging to certain categories and not for others who do not belong to such categories. This is prima facie in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. Meanwhile, the court refused to modify the stay order when the government advocate requested to do so on Friday.
WHAT IS THE CONTENTION OF THE PARENTS?
Advocate Abhishek Kumar, representing petitioners, argued before the court that the state government has stipulated that students be admitted to the said schools must belong to either Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe or Backward Classes and no other student be admitted to such schools. In other words, 75 per cent of the seats are reserved for admission of students belonging to Scheduled Caste, 10 per cent are reserved for Schedule Tribe and 15 per cent for students belonging to Backward Classes.