Draft 'All Parents Have Equal Access To Crucial Information; So Notices must be Also Issued In Hindi': Delhi HC Directs DoE

The Delhi High Court, recently, directed the Department of Education (DoE) to issue all circulars and notices in Hindi as well as English. The court further emphasized that all parents irrespective of their educational background should have equal access to crucial information.

The bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma held, “All parents, regardless of their educational background or linguistic proficiency, have equal access to crucial information, it is necessary that such notices are also issued in Hindi”.

A petition was filed by a father, named Paramjeet Singh, seeking issuance of a direction against the Directorate of Education (DoE), requesting the admission of his child into the Nursery/Preschool Class under the EWS category for the academic session 2024-25 at Indraprastha World School.

Advocate Swathi Sukumar, representing Paramjeet Singh, argued that despite the child being granted admission through a computerized draw of lots, the school had denied admission. Furthermore, Paramjeet Singh had approached the school multiple times within the required timeframe, but the school refused to accept the renewed income certificate.

Advocate Swathi Sukumar also asserted that Indraprastha World School failed to comply with the circulars, which mandated admission as per the allotment by the Directorate of Education (DoE). Paramjeet Singh claimed that the school’s actions violated the child’s fundamental right to free and compulsory education under Article 21A of the Constitution.

Moreover, the school’s refusal to even accept the necessary documents for admission was considered discriminatory and in violation of Articles 14, 15, and 16 of the Constitution. The denial was further argued to be contrary to the statutory provisions of the Right to Education Act (RTE), which guarantees the right to free education. Paramjeet Singh maintained that the school allotment was made after the due verification of documents, and the refusal of admission was arbitrary and unlawful.

In response, Advocate Kamal Gupta, representing Indraprastha World School, referred to a circular, which required that the income certificate used for the EWS category application be issued before the start of the online admission process. Advocate Sukumar admitted that the income certificate, issued by the Department of Revenue, Government of NCT of Delhi, had expired on 15.04.2024, a month before the application for admission.

Advocate Gupta argued that at the time of applying for admission, Paramjeet Singh did not possess a valid income certificate. The court was tasked with determining whether the lack of a valid income certificate at the time of the online admission process justified the rejection of the school allotment for Paramjeet Singh’s child under the EWS category.

The court observed that the circular issued by the Directorate of Education (DoE) explicitly required that the income certificate must be valid according to their guidelines at the time of applying for admission under the EWS/DG category. In light of this, the Court opined that, as per the circular dated 24.04.2024, Paramjeet Singh failed to provide a valid income certificate to the school, which was a mandatory requirement for admission under the EWS category.

Advocate Swathi Sukumar argued that although Paramjeet Singh had an income certificate from the previous year, which was not valid at the time of applying for admission, the newly issued certificate should be considered a renewal of the old one, thus valid for the intervening period. However, the Court disagreed with this contention.

The court emphasized that when a fresh income certificate is issued, the candidate is required to submit new documents to the Revenue authorities, who examine these documents before issuing a certificate valid for six months. Since an individual's income may change over time, it cannot be assumed that a new certificate is simply a renewal of the previous one. Consequently, the court found no basis to direct the Indraprastha World School to grant admission to Paramjeet Singh’s child under the EWS category, as the child was ineligible at the time of application.

Advocate Swathi Sukumar further argued that the parents were from a disadvantaged background and lacked awareness of the income certificate’s expiration date. The court was requested to issue guidelines to assist such parents, as this lack of awareness often results in disqualification for admission.

The court, upon hearing the arguments, noted “They (parents) are often unaware of the specific requirements mandated by the DoE regarding the validity of an income certificate and the importance of uploading and producing valid income certificate as on the date of applying for such admission. The situation is exacerbated by their limited understanding of the English language and lack of awareness about this strict mandate regarding validity of income certificate”. The court acknowledged that this oversight was due more to a lack of knowledge than negligence.

The court also outlined the “need for removing language barriers to enable the common community members to enjoy the fruits of a welfare legislation”.

Considering the facts, the court deemed it appropriate to issue several directions:
(i) Circulars and notices from the DoE regarding admissions under the EWS category should not be limited to English but also made available in Hindi, widely understood by a large segment of the population, to ensure compliance;
(ii) The DoE must make efforts to disseminate information regarding the validity of income certificates and other required documents, both in Hindi and English, to the public in Delhi;
(iii) The DoE should upload an instructional video explaining the application process for EWS category admissions, including the importance of a valid income certificate, with the video available in Hindi, English, and other Indian languages as necessary.

For Petitioner: Advocates Swathi Sukumar, Naveen Nagarjuna, Rishubh Agarwal and Ritik Raghuwanshi
For DoE: Additional Standing Counsel Karn Bhardwaj with Advocates Shubham Singh, Rajat Gaba and Saurabh Dahiya
For School: Advocates Kamal Gupta, Tripti Gupta, Sparsh Aggarwal, Karan Chaudhary and Yosha Dutt
Case Title: Master Harmanpreet Singh Through Mr. Paramjeet Singh v Directorate Of Education (2024:DHC:6694)