Can’t direct govt to finalise Bill to ban screening in nursery admissions: HC

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday said it cannot direct the government to pass or finalise the Delhi School Education (Amendment) Bill, 2015 which proposes to ban screening procedure in nursery admissions in schools.

A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela posted the petition for May 17, asking the petitioner’s counsel

to seek further instructions in the matter.

The high court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) which submitted that a child-friendly bill — Delhi School Education (Amendment) Bill, 2015 — is hanging between central and Delhi governments for the past seven years without any justification and against public interest and opposed to public policy.

The petition by NGO Social Jurist, through advocates Ashok Agarwal and Kumar Utkarsh, said the very objective and purpose of the bill is to protect tiny tots from exploitation and unjust discrimination in the matter of nursery admission in private schools which is literally defeated by delay in finalising it by the governments and making it a law.

Delhi government standing counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi raised an objection claiming that Agarwal himself had protested earlier against the bill and he was leading the protest and now he want the bill to be passed.

However, Agarwal submitted that there were three bills and he was opposing the other two bills which allegedly took away the right of teachers and not the present one.