Back
2022 Supreme(Online)(MAD) 13095
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS RESERVED ON : 12.07.2022 PRONOUNCED ON : 20.07.2022 CORAM:
THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ABDUL QUDDHOSE W.P.Nos.12512, 10134, 10137, 10141, 10145, 10131, 10120, 10122, 10151, 10110 & 10126 of 2022 and Connected Miscellaneous Petitions Minor K.T.Srivatsan Represented by his mother and next friend, T.Bhavithra .. Petitioner in WP.No.12512 of 2022 Minor K.Jaanav, Represented by his Father and Natural Guardian, K.Krishnakumar .. Petitioner in W.P.No.10134 of 2022 Minor S.Nithin Karthik Represented by his Father and Natural Guardian, G.Sivaprakasan .. Petitioner in WP.No.10137 of 2022 Minor A.Sabareesh, Represented by his Father and Natural Guardian, R.Arumugam .. Petitioner in W.P.No.10141 of 2022 Minor V.Vikas, Represented by Father and Natural Guardian, N.Vadivel .. Petitioner in W.P.No.10145 of 2022 Minor E.Sudan, Represented by his Father and Natural Guardian, K.Elamvaluthy .. Petitioner in W.P.No.10131 of 2022 Minor Thambivalavan.K Represented by Father and Natural Guardian, A.Kannan .. Petitioner in W.P.No.10120 of 2022 Minor Rahul Palanisamy, Represented by his Father and Natural Guardian, T.Palanisamy .. Petitioner in W.P.No.10122 of 2022 Minor V.G.Vishrudh, Represented by Mother and Natural Guardian, S.Santhi .. Petitioner in W.P.No.10151 of 2022 Minor S.Yuvan, Represented by his Father and Natural Guardian, P.Stalin .. Petitioner in W.P.No.10110 of 2022 Minor Siddharth N.S., Represented by his mother, P.Sindhuja .. Petitioner in W.P.No.10126 of 2022 Versus
1.The Sainik Schools Society, Represented by its Executive Chairman, Room No.101, D-1 Wing, Sena Bhawan, New Delhi – 110 011.
2.The Principal, Sainik School, Amaravathinagar, Udumalpet Taluk, Tirupur District – 642 102 ... Respondents in all Wps.
Prayer in W.P.No.12512 of 2022: Petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying to issue Writ of Declaration declaring the provisional 1st merit list dated 11.04.2022 published by the 2nd respondent in their web site is null and void insofar as the non-inclusion of the petitioner Roll number 4103020363 due to the reason of “overweight” and consequently direct the respondents herein to admit the petitioner in Class VI in the second respondent School in OBC Category.
Prayer in W.P.No.10134 of 2022: Petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying to issue Writ of Declaration declaring the provisional 1st merit list dated 11.04.2022 published by the 2nd respondent in their web site is null and void insofar as the non-inclusion of the petitioner Roll number 4103030106 due to the reason of “overweight” and consequently direct the respondents herein to admit the petitioner in Class VI in the second respondent School in OBC Category.
Prayer in W.P.No.10137 of 2022: Petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying to issue Writ of Declaration declaring the provisional 1st merit list dated 11.04.2022 published by the 2nd respondent in their web site is null and void insofar as the non-inclusion of the petitioner Roll number 4103030418 due to the reason of overweight and consequently direct the respondents herein to admit the petitioner in Class VI in the second respondent School in OBC-NCL Category.
Prayer in W.P.No.10141 of 2022: Petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying to issue Writ of Declaration declaring the provisional 1st merit list dated 11.04.2022 published by the 2nd respondent in their web site is null and void insofar as the non-inclusion of the petitioner Roll number 4103020462 due to the reason of overweight and consequently direct the respondents herein to admit the petitioner in Class VI in the second respondent School in OBC Category.
Prayer in W.P.No.10145 of 2022: Petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying to issue Writ of Declaration declaring the provisional 1st merit list dated 11.04.2022 published by the 2nd respondent in their web site is null and void insofar as the non-inclusion of the petitioner Roll number 4103020598 due to the reason of overweight and consequently direct the respondents herein to admit the petitioner in Class VI in the second respondent School in OBC-NCL (Central List).
Prayer in W.P.No.10131 of 2022: Petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying to issue Writ of Declaration declaring the provisional 1st merit list dated 11.04.2022 published by the 2nd respondent in their web site is null and void insofar as the non-inclusion of the petitioner Roll number 4103010034 due to the reason of overweight and consequently direct the respondents herein to admit the petitioner in Class VI in the second respondent School in OBC Category.
Prayer in W.P.No.10120 of 2022: Petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying to issue Writ of Declaration declaring the provisional 1st merit list dated 11.04.2022 published by the 2nd respondent in their web site is null and void insofar as the non-inclusion of the petitioner Roll number 4103010300 due to the reason of “overweight” and consequently direct the respondents herein to admit the petitioner in Class VI in the second respondent School under ST (Home) category.
Prayer in W.P.No.10122 of 2022: Petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying to issue Writ of Declaration declaring the provisional 1st merit list dated 11.04.2022 published by the 2nd respondent in their web site is null and void insofar as the non-inclusion of the petitioner Roll number 4103030412 due to the reason of overweight and consequently direct the respondents herein to admit the petitioner in Class VI in the second respondent School in OBC Category.
Prayer in W.P.No.10151 of 2022: Petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying to issue Writ of Declaration declaring the provisional 1st merit list dated 11.04.2022 published by the 2nd respondent in their web site is null and void insofar as the non-inclusion of the petitioner Roll number 4103030250 due to the reason of overweight and consequently direct the respondents herein to admit the petitioner in Class VI in the second respondent School under ST (Home) category.
Prayer in W.P.No.10110 of 2022: Petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying to issue Writ of Declaration declaring the provisional 1st merit list dated 11.04.2022 published by the 2nd respondent in their web site is null and void insofar as the non-inclusion of the petitioner Roll number 4103030117 due to the reason of overweight and consequently direct the respondents herein to admit the petitioner in Class VI in the second respondent School in Defence category.
Prayer in W.P.No.10126 of 2022: Petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying to issue Writ of Declaration declaring the provisional 1st merit list dated 11.04.2022 published by the 2nd respondent in their web site is null and void insofar as the non-inclusion of the petitioner Roll number 4103020321 due to the reason of overweight and consequently direct the respondents herein to admit the petitioner in Class VI in the second respondent School under ST (Home) category.
For Petitioners in all W.Ps. : Mr.K.Elango For Respondents in all W.Ps. : Mr.K.Subbu Ranga Bharathi, Central Government Standing Counsel
COMMON ORDER
These writ petitions pertain to selection process of students in Sainik Schools. The respective petitioners in these writ petitions have applied for admission to Class-VI in the Sainik Schools. But according to them, they were denied admission despite being meritorious, purely on medical grounds i.e., for the reason that they were overweight and some of them in addition to being overweight, have phimosis. The appeals against the decision of the medical board namely, the Military Hospital, Chennai, declaring the petitioners as medically unfit for selection was also rejected by the Dean of Coimbatore Medical College Hospital, Coimbatore on 08.06.2022.
2. The respective petitioners have challenged the provisional selection list issued by the respondents excluding their names despite being meritorious, only on the ground that they were medically unfit due to overweight / phimosis. Sainik Schools are a system of schools in India established and managed by the Sainik Schools Society under Ministry of Defence (Mod). They were conceived in 1961 by V.K.Krishna Menon, the then Defence Minister of India, to rectify the regional and class imbalance amongst the Officer cadre of the Indian Military and to prepare students mentally and physically for entry into the National Defence Academy (NDA) and Indian Naval Academy (INA).
3. Ministry of Defence run Sainik Schools as joint venture with the respective State Governments. Ministry of Defence provides annual funding, and serving officers in the key roles i.e., Principal. State Governments provide the land, infrastructure and other teaching and administrative employees. Sainik Schools follow the “CBSE Plus” by using CBSE curriculum while additionally aiming to prepare the children for entering into Indian Defence Academy and Indian Naval Academy. Admission to Sainik Schools is granted from class VI. The reservation policy caters for SC/ST, domicile of the respective States and the wards of Armed Forces employees and ex-servicemen. Sainik schools are ordinary citizen's public school where deserving students get high-quality education irrespective of their income or class background. Seats are reserved for children of SC/ST and serving/retired defence personnel.
4. The objective of the Sainik Schools is to prepare the students to lead as officers in the Defence Services of the country. The schools select bright and promising students through All India Sainik School Entrance Examination (AISSEE) and focus on moulding their overall personality with emphasis on extracurricular activities. Sainik schools resources allow cadets to develop their skills in sports, academics and other extracurricular activities. Infrastructure in Sainik Schools include running tracks, cross-country tracks, indoor games, parade grounds, boxing rings, firing ranges, canoeing clubs, horse riding clubs, mountaineering clubs, trekking and hiking club, obstacles courses, football, hockey and cricket fields as well as volleyball and basketball courts. Cadets also become a part of NCC. A cadet who completes their 12th standard usually possess a NCC B certificate.
5. Cadets are assigned to houses. They are classified as sub-juniors, juniors and seniors respectively depending upon their class of study. Cadets compete in sports, physical training, academics, cross country, drill and various other competitions to win their house trophy.
6. The necessity for this Court to highlight the importance of Sainik Schools in its introdictory paragraphs is only for the purpose of emphasizing the fact as to how important it is for the prospective students to pass medical and fitness tests. Once they get admission in the Sainik School, they are trained to serve the Indian Army and Indian Navy which involves rigorous training and requires the highest standards of fitness.
7. The respective petitioners have been declared medically unfit due to overweight and in some cases, in addition to being overweight, due to phimosis. The respective
