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Synopsis

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday permitted a student who had been denied the opportunity to play in a cricket match organized by the Directorate of Education due to a delay in issuance of his birth certificate.

The petitioner, a 13-year-old boy, contested a stipulation outlined in a circular by the Delhi government's Directorate of Education (Sports branch), which mandated that the birth certificate of the respective student be issued within one year of their date of birth. However, in the case at hand, the birth certificate had been issued three years after the boy's birth.

The bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad remarked that the available evidence established the petitioner's promising potential, highlighting his role as the captain of the cricket team at Delhi Public School, R. K. Puram.

The court expressed concern that the petitioner's "career prospects should not be jeopardized" solely due to the inability to produce a birth certificate, which had been appropriately issued by the municipality in Patna, albeit three years after the birth.

The court permitted the petitioner to participate and represent his school in the domain of cricket at the forthcoming Delhi State School Games (under-14 Cricket) for the year 2023–24, scheduled from October 18, 2023, to October 31, 2023.

The petitioner, represented by Advocate Chandra Prakash, challenged the stipulation that required a birth certificate issued by the municipal authority within one year of the student's birth for eligibility in the Delhi State School Games (under-14 Cricket) for the year 2023–24, set to occur from October 18 to 31. The petitioner sought an interim remedy to allow participation in the games.

It was revealed in court that the petitioner was born in Patna, Bihar, and later moved to Delhi due to his father's employment. Consequently, the boy was admitted to Delhi Public School, R. K. Puram, relying on the birth certificate issued by the Patna municipality, despite the three-year delay in its issuance.

The petitioner's counsel contended that numerous petitions addressing the same issue were pending before the high court. He argued that these students should not be denied the opportunity to participate in sports events merely due to their inability to produce a birth certificate issued by a municipality within one year of their birth.

Court directed the state government to reconsider the viability of upholding such a requirement, as it posed significant hardships for students hailing from rural backgrounds, who often lacked birth certificates issued within one year of their birth.

Case Title: Mrinayak through his Natural Gurdian Ajay Kumar v. The Deputy Director of Education (Sports)