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2022 DIGILAW 584 (GUJ)

Jayeshbhai Ishvarbhai Chauhan v. Union Of India

2022-04-26

BHARGAV D.KARIA

body2022
JUDGMENT : 1. Heard learned advocate Mr. B.N.Limbachia for the petitioner, learned Assistant Government Pleader Mr. Dhawan Jayswal for the respondent-State and learned advocate Mr. Siddharth H. Dave for respondent No.7. 2.Leave to add The Mamlatdar, Lambha is permitted. 3.Rule returnable forthwith. Learned AGP waives service of notice of rule on behalf of the respondent-state and learned advocate Mr. Siddharth Dave waives service of notice of rule on behalf of respondent No.7. 4.By this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner has prayed for the following reliefs: “A. The Hon’ble Court be pleased to issue writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, direction or order in the nature of mandamus for directing the respondent No. 4, 5 and 6 to decide the representation of the petitioner dated 13.11.2021 and be pleased to direct the authorities that the Rural Area Certificate be issued to the petitioner in the interest of justice; B. The Hon’ble Court be pleased to issue writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, direction or order in the nature of mandamus for directing the respondent No. 1,2,6 and 7 to admit the petitioner’s daughter Hemangi Chauhan to the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, vilalge Hathijan, in the interest of justice; C. The Hon’ble Court be pleased to direct respondent No.6 and 7 to admit the petitioner’s daughter to the Jawahar Navodaya Vidayalaya, in the interim period, while the present Petition is pending final adjudication in the interest of justice; D. The Hon;ble Court be pleased to pass such other orders as may be deemed just and proper in the circumstances of the case.” 5.Brief facts of the case are as under: 5.1 The petitioner is the father of a girl child named Hemangi Jayeshkumar Chauhan aged 13 years who was a student of Grade V with the Ideal Public School, Lambha, Taluka- Daskroi, District-Ahmedabad at the relevant time. 5.2 It is the case of the petitioner that Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas [for short ‘JNVs’] are co-educational schools fully aided and controlled by the Union of India through an autonomous organization called Navodaya Vidhyalaya Samiti. JNVs are granting admission to the students by conducting admission test by the Central Board of Secondary Education annually on All India basis at block and district level. JNVs are granting admission to the students by conducting admission test by the Central Board of Secondary Education annually on All India basis at block and district level. 5.3 JNV schools are from VIth to XIIth standards established with objective of excellence coupled with equity social justice and to promote good quality modern education including strong component of culture, inculcation of values, awareness of environment, adventurous activities and physical education. 5.4 The petitioner therefore filled the form for his daughter for JNV selection test before the last date of 15.12.2022 and the daughter of the petitioner appeared in the test conducted on 11.08.2021 and cleared the same. 5.5 The name of the daughter of the petitioner was reflected in the select merit list declared by the Central Board Second Education and JNV Admission Committee in the month of September,2021. 5.6 It is the case of the petitioner that the petitioner thereafter submitted a necessary application form and other documents duly filled so as to comply with the admission formalities except rural area certificate required to grant admission to the daughter of the petitioner as per the Scheme. 5.7 Mamlatdar of the particular area is authorized to issue the certificate to the effect that a candidate has studied in Classes- III, IV, and V in a school i.e. located in rural area. However, in case of the daughter of the petitioner, the Mamlardar did not issue certificate on the ground that at present, designated area where the school of daughter of the petitioner was located is not a rural area but it is an urban area. 5.8 The petitioner has therefore filed this petition with the aforesaid prayers after persuading the Mamlatdar on time and again to issue a certificate as required for the admission of the daughter of the petitioner. 6. Learned advocate Mr.Limbachia for the petitioner submitted that similarly situated students were granted admission in JNV on the basis of rural area certificate issued by the Mamlatdar prior to the year 2021. It was submitted that the guidelines for admission of provisionally selected candidates in Class-VI through JNVST-2021 provides eligibility condition for all candidates which is produced on record at page 19/2. Reference was made to clause 5 thereof to point out that Urban areas are those which are so notified in 2001 census or through a subsequent Government notification. It was submitted that the guidelines for admission of provisionally selected candidates in Class-VI through JNVST-2021 provides eligibility condition for all candidates which is produced on record at page 19/2. Reference was made to clause 5 thereof to point out that Urban areas are those which are so notified in 2001 census or through a subsequent Government notification. It was also pointed out that all other areas are to be considered as rural. It was therefore submitted that there is no Government notification which notifies the areas in which the provisional admission is granted to the daughter of the petitioner as urban area and therefore Mamlatdar of the said order is required to issue the rural certificate as per the format in view of the said guidelines. 6.1 It was also submitted that daughter of the petitioner was required to take admission in other school for the academic year 2021-22. However, she is still interested to get her admission in 7th standard for the academic year starting from June 2022-23. Learned advocate therefore submitted that for no fault of the petitioner, the provisional admission which was granted to the daughter of the petitioner is rejected for want of certificate to be issued by the Mamlatdar certifying that the daughter of the petitioner studied in Classes-III, IV and V in rural area as the same is not in dispute. 6.2 Learned advocate Mr.Limbachiya also referred to the letter dated 04.10.2021 issued by the Ideal Public School in which, it is stated that up to December,2020, the said school was within the jurisdiction of the District Panchayat but from January,2021, the said school is under the control of the Ahmedabad City District Education Officer and therefore, it was submitted that the daughter of the petitioner studied in the school which was situated in rural area up to December 2020 and only from January 2021, as per the certificate issued by the ideal Public School, the said school was covered by the Education Department in the urban area. It was therefore submitted that for almost nine months, the daughter of the petitioner studied in the school which was in rural area and therefore on that ground also, the Mamlatdar ought to have issued the certificate certifying that the school of daughter of the petitioner was situated in the rural area for the Classes-III, IV and V. 7.On the other hand, learned AGP Mr. Jayswal submitted that the school, in which, the daughter of the petitioner was studying, was not situated in rural area but in the urban area as per the Government resolution dated 01.12.2020 when the Mamlatdar was approached to issue certificate as required by the Scheme. Reference was also made to the format of the certificate at page 31 to point out that the Mamlatdar was required to issue “Rural area certificate” certifying that the candidate has studied in Classes-III, IV and V in the school located in the rural area of the District. It was submitted that when the certificate was to be issued by the Mamlatdar the school in which the daughter of the petitioner has studied, was not located in the rural area of the District-Ahmedabad and therefore, the Mamlatdar has rightly not issue the rural area certificate to the daughter of the petitioner. 7.1 Learned AGP Mr.Jayswal also relied upon Notification dated 20th July,2006, issued by Urban Development and Urban Housing Department to point out that the village Lambha is in urban area since 2006. 8. Learned advocate Mr. Dave appearing for the respondent No.7 submitted that as per the Scheme, the last date of the submission of application was on 15.12.2020 and therefore, it cannot be said that the daughter of the petitioner studied for standard V in rural area when the Ideal Public School was in the urban area from January,2021. 8.1 Learned advocate Mr. Dave submitted that as per the Navodaya Vidhyalaya Scheme, it is provided that even for one day, if the student has studied in a school situated in urban area, then said student is not entitled to get the benefit of the Scheme. Reference was made to a clauses 4.4 and 4.5 of the said Scheme. For rural candidates, it was submitted that the clause (b) provides that a candidate should study fully academic session in Class-V from the same District where the admission is sought. It was therefore submitted that when the daughter of the petitioner has studied in the school which was considered in the urban area from January 2021 and hence, she is not entitled to get the admission in JNV School under the Scheme. 9. It was therefore submitted that when the daughter of the petitioner has studied in the school which was considered in the urban area from January 2021 and hence, she is not entitled to get the admission in JNV School under the Scheme. 9. Having heard learned advocate for the respective parties and having gone through the material on record it appears that it is not in dispute that the daughter of the petitioner has studied in Classes-III, IV and V in Ideal Public School which was admittedly situated in the rural area of Ahmedabad district upto to December,2020. It is not the fault of the daughter of the petitioner that the school is considered in Urban area by the Education Department w.e.f. 2021. The daughter of the petitioner was permitted to file the application form prior to 15.12.2020 because at the relevant point of time, the school in which the daughter of the petitioner was studying, was situated in rural area and therefore, the petitioner was eligible for admission under the Scheme. 10. Guidelines for admission of the Scheme provide that the candidate claiming admission from rural quota must have studied and passed Classes-III, IV and V from the Government/Government aided/recognized school spending one full academic session each year in a school located in the rural area. It further provides that candidate who has studied in a school located in an urban area even for a single day of session in any of the Classes- III, IV and V, will be considered as urban area candidate. The urban areas are those which are so notified in the 2001 census or through subsequent Government notification and all other areas will be considered as rural. 11. In view of such eligibility condition of candidates which are reproduced hereunder it cannot be said that the daughter of the petitioner has studied in a school located in urban area for a single day more particularly when, there is nothing on record to show that the Ideal Public School which is treated as a school under the supervision of the Ahmedabad City District Education Officer as per the Government resolution dated 01.12.2020 issued by the Education Department was pursuant to any subsequent Government notification declaring such area as urban area. Admittedly, the Ideal public school was situated in a rural area upo to December, 2020 and there is no other subsequent Government notification thereafter declaring such area in which, the said school is situated to be an urban area and hence, as per the eligibility condition the school to be continued to be treated as situated in rural area for the purpose of Navodaya Vidhyalaya Scheme: “1. Only candidates from the district where the Jawahar Navodaya Vidayala has been opened are eligible to apply for admission. However, in the district where the JNV is opened and is bifurcated at a later date, the old boundaries of the district are considered for the purpose of eligibility for admission in the JNVs. This applies to cases where new Vidyalaya has not yet been started in the newly bifurcated district. 2. Candidates appearing for the selection test must be studying in class-V for the entire academic session in a Government/Government Aided, other recognized school or ‘B’ Certificate Competency Course of National Institute of Open Schooling should accreditation of NIOS. A candidate must successfully complete Class-V. Actual admission in Class-Vi will be subject to these conditions. 3. A candidate seeking admission must be within the age group of 9 to 13 years. This is applicable to candidates of all categories, including those who belong to the Scheduled Castes(SCs) and the Scheduled Tribes(STs.) 4. A candidate claiming admission from rural quota must have studied and passed Classes-III,IV and V from a Govt./Govt. Aided/recognised school spending one full academic session each year in a school located in a rural area. 5. A candidate who has studied in a school located in an urban area even for a single day of a session in any of the Classes-III,IV or V, will be considered as an Urban area candidate. Urban areas are those which are so notified in the 2001 Census or through a subsequent Government Notification. All other areas will be considered as rural. 6. A candidate who has not been promoted and admitted to Class-V before 30th September, is not eligible to apply. 7. No candidate is eligible to appear in the JNV selection test for a second time under any circumstances.” 12. All other areas will be considered as rural. 6. A candidate who has not been promoted and admitted to Class-V before 30th September, is not eligible to apply. 7. No candidate is eligible to appear in the JNV selection test for a second time under any circumstances.” 12. Thus, on perusal of the aforesaid eligibility criteria’s and conditions the daughter of the petitioner has studied in the school which was in effect situated in rural area and therefore, the Mamlatdar ought to have issued rural area certificate in the name of the daughter of the petitioner. 13. With regard to the contention raised on behalf of learned AGP that the Village Lambha, where the school in which the daughter of the petitioner was studying in standard III, IV and V was already notified as Urban area since 2006, pursuant to the Government notification dated 20th July, 2006, it is pertinent to note that the village Lambha is considered as Rural area till 2020 and thereafter from January, 2021 the same is considered as Urban area. It is apparent from the notification issued by the Education Department on 01.12.2020 that the Notification dated 20th July, 2006 issued by the Urban Development and Urban Housing Department is only with regard to inclusion and exclusion of certain areas in the existing limits of the City of Ahmedabad. 14. Considering the density of the population of such area, village Lambha is included within the limits of City Ahmedabad since 2006. However, as per the Navodaya Vidyalaya Scheme, village Lambha is considered as part of District Ahmedabad till 2020 and admissions are given to the students of the school situated in the said area on the basis of Rural certificate issued by the competent authority till 2020. 15. Therefore, the notification issued in the year 2006 would not govern the issue of Rural or Urban area in which the school of the daughter of the petitioner was situated at the relevant point of time. 16. The petition therefore succeeds and is accordingly allowed. Respondent No.5- Mamlatdar, Taluka-Dascroi is hereby directed to issue rural area certificate in the name of the daughter of the petitioner certifying that the daughter of the petitioner studied in Classes-III, IV and V in the Ideal Public School situated in Taluka-Dascroi, Dist. Ahmecabad as per the prescribed format under the Navodaya Vidyala Scheme. Respondent No.5- Mamlatdar, Taluka-Dascroi is hereby directed to issue rural area certificate in the name of the daughter of the petitioner certifying that the daughter of the petitioner studied in Classes-III, IV and V in the Ideal Public School situated in Taluka-Dascroi, Dist. Ahmecabad as per the prescribed format under the Navodaya Vidyala Scheme. On the basis of such certificate respondent Nos.6 and 7 are directed to grant the admission to the daughter of the petitioner for the Class-VII for the academic year 2022-23. 17. Rule is made absolute to the aforesaid extent. No order as to cost. Direct service is permitted.