High Court stays draw of lots

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 15

Issuing the notice of motion for February 21 to the Chandigarh Administration, Saint Kabir Public School and other respondents, the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed the draw of lots for admission which were scheduled to be held today afternoon.

The order by the Bench of Justice Mahesh Grover and Justice Rajbir Sehrawat came on an appeal by Arjun Sisodia through counsel CSS Sisodia, claiming that the admission process followed by the respondent school was “false, illegal, cryptic and against the principle of nature justice”.

The matter pertains to the admission to the nursery class. The Bench was told that the admission notice dated December 1, 2017, was only pertaining to eligibility. Reservation of the seats was not uploaded on the website.

The petitioner claimed the reservation and allotment of seats under various heads and categories was made known on January 15 — the day on which the draw of lots was to be held.

It is submitted that the school provided 20 per cent seats under the Sikh minority quota which was a part of the total quota of Sikh children (18 seats), while category A (siblings), category B (children of alumni), category C (children of staff) finds various Sikhs students having been admitted beyond the quota of 20 per cent. Counsel for the petitioner also submitted that the school also did not prepare waiting list.