RAJIV SAHAI ENDLAW, J.

1. The petitioners in both the petitions are aggrieved from the refusal of the Schools from which they have passed the Class X examination, to allot the Science stream to the petitioners in Class XI and seek a mandamus to the respondent Schools to allot the Science subject / stream to them. Both the petitioners failed to meet the eligibility criteria laid down by the respective Schools for admission to the Science stream. Notices of the petitions were issued on the basis of contention that the Supreme Court in Principal, Kendriya Vidyalaya Vs. Saurabh Chaudhary AIR 2009 SC 608 in para 17 of the judgment had observed that preference in favour of the school’s own student has to be assumed and has been provided expressly as per judgment in The Principal, Cambridge School Vs. Payal Gupta (1995) 5 SCC 512. It was the contention of the counsel for the petitioners that the Schools having admitted external students i.e. students who had not passed their Class X examination from the School to the Science stream, were required to first give preference to their own students for the stream / subject of their choice and the same could be offered to the extern