Kids with family income of 2.5L can seek entry in schools under EWS: HC

THE HIGH court passed the interim order on an appeal filed by the Delhi government challenging the single judge’s decision

The Delhi high court on Tuesday ordered that children belonging to families with annual income up to `2.5 lakh can seek admission to schools in the national capital under the Economically Weaker Sections quota, modifying an earlier order passed by a single judge bench of the court.

A bench of acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet P.S. Arora stayed certain directions issued by a single judge of the high court in the December 5, 2023 judgment which had raised the threshold income limit from `1 lakh to `5 lakh annually until the government amended the relevant law.

The high court passed the interim order on an appeal filed by the Delhi government challenging the single judge’s decision. The single judge had also directed the Delhi government to immediately do away with the mechanism of self-declaration of income by parents and devise an appropriate framework for continuation of free seats for EWS in schools. The court had said that the Delhi government’s Directorate of Education shall frame a standard operating procedure for income verification and regular monitoring of the eligibility criteria. Delhi government’s standing counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi submitted that the sudden increase in the threshold income will adversely impact the deserving candidates from families with income up to `1 lakh, potentially leading to reduced chances of securing admission under EWS quota. He contended that this arbitrary increase violates the fundamental right to equality and imposes unreasonable restrictions on the right to education.