The Delhi High Court has directed the Directorate of Education (DoE) and the concerned school to consider admitting a seven-year-old child under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota in the school originally allotted to him. In the event such admission is not feasible, the authorities have been directed to secure his admission in another recognised school located within a radius of five kilometres from his residence.
Justice Jasmeet Singh passed the directions while allowing and disposing of a writ petition instituted by Master Viraj Solanki through his father, Gaurav Kumar Solanki.
The child had applied for admission to Class I under the 25 per cent EWS quota mandated under Section 12(1)(c) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. Although a seat was allotted to him through the admission process, the allotment was not communicated to his family within the prescribed admission period. Consequently, the parents remained unaware of the allotment and the child could not secure admission.
The petitioner had applied pursuant to a DoE circular dated February 20, 2026, governing admissions for the 2026-27 academic session under the EWS/Disadvantaged Group (DG) category. His name did not figure in the first computerized draw conducted on April 6, 2026. Subsequently, in the second allotment list published on July 10, 2026, he was allotted a Class I seat at Navin Bharti Preparatory School.
It was the petitioner’s case that the family received no SMS or other communication informing them about the allotment. Senior Advocate Sandeep Kapur, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that the father had previously received admission-related alerts when securing EWS admission for his daughter and, therefore, had no reason to believe that the absence of any communication in the present case was attributable to any lapse on his part.
The petitioner contended that the failure to communicate the allotment, followed by the refusal to admit the child and his subsequent omission from the next allotment list, deprived him of the benefit of a statutory entitlement. It was argued that such conduct was contrary to the mandate of the RTE Act and infringed the guarantees embodied in Articles 14 and 21-A of the Constitution.
The father subsequently discovered the allotment in September 2026 when he accessed the DoE portal after applications for admission to higher classes were invited. He thereafter approached the concerned school, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the DoE seeking redressal.
Written representations were submitted before the authorities on September 23, 2026. However, according to the petitioner, the school declined to grant admission. The following day, the DoE published its third allotment list, in which the child’s name was no longer reflected. The petitioner asserted that the exclusion was effected without prior notice or any explanation being furnished to the family.
Taking note of the child’s age and the imperative of ensuring continuity in elementary education, the High Court directed the respondents to consider his admission at Navin Bharti Preparatory School for the ongoing academic session.
The Court further directed that if admission could not be granted at the allotted institution, the DoE would be required to identify an alternative recognised school and ensure the child’s admission there, provided the institution is situated within five kilometres of his residence.
The directions were issued to ensure that an administrative lapse in communicating the allotment does not operate to the detriment of the child or result in denial of his statutory right to elementary education under the RTE framework.
With these directions, Justice Jasmeet Singh allowed and disposed of the writ petition.
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