HC rejects plea of police officer seeking direction to DU

The Delhi High Court has turned down a police officer's plea seeking directions to Delhi University to give admission to his child in engineering course under the reserved category for defence and police personnel.
Justice V K Jain, in a recent order, rejected the plea of Hridaya Bhushan, recipient of President's Police Medal for Gallantry twice, for a direction to DU to include this award in its list of eligible gallantry awards categories, under which some seats are reserved in the university for children of the winners.
"Being an autonomous body, DU is entitled to take its own decision that which awards are the eligible gallantry awards for the purpose of giving reservation in admission to various courses including bachelor of engineering (BE) course," the judge said.

"In the absence of any statutory obligation, the recommendations made by the Centre would not bind the university... No legal infirmity in the university's decision not to give benefit of reservation in defence category to those, whose parents are in receipt of President's Police Medal for Gallantry and Police Medal for Gallantry issued by Home Ministry, is therefore, found by the court," he said.
The court rejected the arguments of petitioner's counsel that in 2009, the Home Ministry had recommended the inclusion of this award and the high court had earlier passed a direction that the university is bound by the Centre's directions.

Referring to the Centre's July 2009 communication, the judge said there was no material on record to establish that the university had accepted the government's recommendation.

The petitioner's child had applied for admission to BE course at Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology, affiliated with DU, for the academic year 2013-2014 on the basis of the prospectus issued by the institute.
The prospectus did not provide the benefit of reservation to the wards of those who had received the President's Police Medal for Gallantry and Police Medal for Gallantry awarded by Home Ministry though there was quota for the children of ex-servicemen and serving personnel of the armed forces.

Being aggrieved of the exclusion of this award, the petitioner had moved the high court.
While dismissing the plea, the court said the petitioner should have challenged the 2013-2014 prospectus before applying for the course.