W.P.(C) 8973/2006

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

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W.P.(C) 8973/2006

In Re : COURT ON ITS OWN MOTION

Represented by:

Mr.Arvind K.Nigam,

Sr.Advocate/Amicus Curiae

instructed by Ms.Deeksha Rao,

Adv.

Mr.Sanjay Jain, ASG with

Mr.Sanjeev Narula, CGSC,

Mr.AjayKarla, Ms.Natasha

Thakur and Ms.Bani Dikshit,

Advs. for UOI.

Mr.Ramesh Singh and

Ms.Megha Mukerjee, Advs. for

Sanskriti School

Mr.H.S.Parihar and

Mr.K.S.Parihar, Advs. for RBI

Mr.Ashok Agarwal and

Ms.Aarushi Agarwal, Advs. for

Intervener, Social Jurist.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE PRADEEP NANDRAJOG

HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE MUKTA GUPTA

PRADEEP NANDRAJOG, J.

1.

The issue at hand is whether the Union Government can provide land

free of cost to a Society formed with the object of providing school

education, with 60% seats reserved for children of Group-A officers of the

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Union Government; finance the construction of a school building thereon

and provide the required infrastructure to run the school. The school

charging nearly 40% less fee from the children of Group-A officers of the

Union Government vis-a-vis other children. This larger issue subsumes the

sub-issue whether such a school can reserve a quota of 60% for the children

of Group-A officers of the Union Government.

2.

As is known to one and all, Group-A officers of the Union

Government are the members of the Indian Administrative Service, Indian

Revenue Service, Indian Police Service etc.

3.

On the 7^th Day of February, 1995, the wives of the then Cabinet

Secretary, Secretary Ministry of External Affairs, Secretary Ministry of

Commerce and ten other ladies, all of whom were the spouse of members of

the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Revenue Service, Indian Police

Service and Indian Railway Technical Service, formed a Society named

‘THE CIVIL SERVICES SOCIETY; having principal object to establish

progressive schools in or outside Delhi open to children of officers of the

All India and Central Services, with a clarification that if extra seats were

available, children of officers of Public Sector and Non-Government

Servants may also be admitted in the school(s).

4.

The spouses of the ladies worked over time. The Cabinet Secretary,

the Foreign Secretary, the Defence Secretary, the Secretary, Ministry of

Commerce, the Secretary of Department of Urban Development, the

Advisor (staff) Railway Board and nine other senior officers of the Union

Government met on June 21, 1995, and on behalf of the Union of India took

the decision that the Ministry of Urban Development shall allot 7.78 acres

land in Chankyapuri to the Civil Services Society at a token cost of `1 with

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annual premium of `1. In principal decision was taken that through its

various ministries, such as Defence, Railway and DoPT, the requisite fund

would be made available to the Society to not only construct the school

building but even purchase furniture and other equipment required. A

commitment was made to make available `19 crores to the Society, and

relevant would it be to note that nearly `10 crores was to remain as a corps

fund. The affidavit filed on August 26, 2006 by Mr.R.Prem Anand, Under

Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance informs

the Court that various Government agencies and/or Ministries donated

`15.945 crores to the Society for setting up of the school.

5.

The rationale for setting up the school, which has been named

‘SANSKRITI SCHOOL’, as disclosed in the affidavits filed by the Union of

India and the Principal of the school is that Civil Services Officers, having

transferrable jobs, find it difficult to admit their children in ‘Good Schools’

‘Elite Schools´.The two expressions in italics and bold have been lifted by

us from the two counter affidavits filed. One by the Principal of the Sc