SC dismisses plea on banning screening of children for nursery admissions

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea challenging the Delhi High Court's decision refusing to direct the lieutenant governor to give assent to or return a 2015 bill which proposed a ban on screening children for nursery admissions.

A bench of Justice SK Kaul and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia said it cannot pass a direction to enact a law.

"Can there be a mandamus to enact a law? Can we direct the government to introduce the bill? Supreme Court can't be the panacea for everything," the bench said.

The high court had on July 3 dismissed a PIL filed by NGO Social Jurist, saying it cannot interfere with the legislative procedure and direct the L-G to either give assent to the Delhi School Education (Amendment) Bill, 2015, or return it.

The organisation, through advocate Ashok Agarwal, filed the appeal in the top court saying the child-friendly bill banning the screening procedure in nursery admission in schools has been hanging between the Central and the Delhi government for the last seven years without any justification and against the public interest and opposed to public policy.

Rejecting the PIL, a division bench of the Delhi High Court had said it was not proper for a high court while exercising its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution to direct a governor, who is a constitutional authority, to set a time frame in matters which come purely within his domain.

"In the considered opinion of this court, even though the bill has been passed by the House, it is always open to the governor to agree or to send the bill back to the House and this court ought not pass a writ of mandamus directing the governor to act," the high court had said.

The appeal against the high court's judgement said it highlighted that the very objective and purpose of the 2015 bill is to protect children from exploitation and unjust discrimination in nursery admission in private schools.

The purpose of the bill was defeated by the delay, it said, adding the Delhi government had got the legislation passed by the assembly way back in 2015.

The Bill, it said, was passed keeping in mind the 2013 decision of the Delhi High Court on a PIL filed by the Social Jurist.