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2025 Supreme(Online)(Mad) 44624
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
C. SARAVANAN, J
Mohandoss – Appellant
Versus
The Secretary to Government – Respondent
W.P.(MD) No.26623 of 2024 | W.M.P.(MD) No.22585 of 2024
For the Appellants/Petitioners: Mr.T.A.Ebenezer
For the Respondents: Mr.A.R.L.Sundaresan, Mr.K.Govindaraj
Sainik Schools must implement EWS reservation under Articles 15(6) and 16(6) of the Constitution, as they are classified as Central Educational Institutions.
Headnote:(A) Constitution of India - Articles 15(6) and 16(6) - Writ Petition challenging reservation criteria of Sainik Schools - Petitioner contended that EWS reservation was not implemented despite constitutional provisions - Respondents argued that EWS reservation is not mandatory but enabling - Court found that Sainik Schools fall under 'Central Educational Institutions' and must implement EWS reservation as per the 2019 amendment. (Paras 1-89)
(B) Education Law - Right to Education - The court emphasized that Sainik Schools, as educational institutions, are required to comply with the EWS reservation mandate under the Constitution. (Paras 24, 89)
Facts of the case:
The Petitioner filed a Writ Petition to quash the Sainik Schools' reservation criteria, arguing that his son, who qualified for admission, was denied due to lack of EWS reservation implementation. The Petitioner holds an EWS Certificate.
Findings of Court:
The court directed the Sainik Schools to implement EWS reservation as per the constitutional amendment and Office Memorandum.
Issues: The key issues were whether Sainik Schools are required to provide EWS reservation and the interpretation of the enabling provision under the constitutional amendment.
Ratio Decidendi: The court concluded that the amendment mandates EWS reservation in Sainik Schools, emphasizing that the enabling nature of the provision does not exempt these institutions from compliance.
Result: Writ Petition allowed.
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. reservation criteria for sainik schools (Para 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5) |
| 2. constitutional provisions for ews reservation (Para 6 , 7 , 8) |
| 3. arguments against mandatory ews reservation (Para 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23) |
| 4. judicial interpretation of articles 15 and 16 (Para 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41) |
| 5. historical context of reservation laws (Para 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51) |
| 6. right to education and constitutional mandates (Para 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61) |
| 7. supreme court rulings on rte act and ews (Para 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68) |
| 8. implementation of ews reservation (Para 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83) |
| 9. relevance of rte act in context of sainik schools (Para 84 , 85 , 86 , 87) |
| 10. entitlement of petitioner's son to admission (Para 88 , 89) |
ORDER
The Petitioner has filed this Writ Petition seeking to quash the impugned reservation criteria of the Sainik Schools, as set out in Paragraph 6.2 and Appendix V of the Information Bulletin for the All India Sainik Schools Entrance Examination - 2024, issued by the 2nd Respondent, the Chairman, National Testing Agency, New Delhi and also for a consequential direction to the Respondents to include reservation under Article 15(6) of the Constitution of India , by incorporating provisions for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in the Sainik School admission criteria from the All India Sainik Schools Entrance Examination.
2. The case of the Petitioner is that, although the Petitioner's son had qualified securing 229 marks out of 300 was not granted admission as he was considered under the General Category, since the Petitioner belongs to the Hindu Reddy Ganjam community, a notified Backward Caste in the State List which was not included in the Central List of Other Backward Classes. It is stated that the Petitioner's son is entitled to be issued an Economically Weaker Section (EWS) Certificate, and therefore, the Petitioner was issued an EWS Certificate by the competent authority.
3. The facts on record reveal that the Respondents have not issued any Notification in the All India Sainik Schools Entrance Examination, 2025 for seats against Economically Weaker Section (EWS). It is stated that, although the scheme for reservation under the EWS category was introduced by the Government in 2019 following the Constitutional amendment, the Respondent Sainik School did not implement the EWS reservation till date.
4. Further, it is also revealed that the Information Bulletin for the All India Sainik Schools Entrance Examination - 2024 reveals that the Sainik Schools did not provide reservation for candidates who belong to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS).
5. Therefore, the Petitioner has filed this Writ Petition challenging the reservation criteria of the Sainik Schools as specified in Paragraph 6.2 and Appendix V of the said Information Bulletin, issued by the 2nd Respondent. Therefore, seeks for a direction to the Respondents to include reservation for the candidates under EWS category as provided under the Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act, 2019 .
SUBMISSIONS ON BEHALF OF THE PETITIONER:-
6. The learned counsel for the Petitioner submits that, as per Articles 15(6) and 16(6) of the Constitution of India , a maximum of 10% reservation is permitted for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in “educational institutions”. It is further submitted that, in accordance with these constitutional provisions, an Office Memorandum dated 17.01.2019 was issued by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Higher Education, Government of India, mandating that EWS reservation shall be provided in 'Central Educational Institutions' as defined under Clause (d) of Section 2 of the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006 , with effect from the Academi
