RTE Admission Can't Be Denied To Child Of Single Mother For Want Of Deceased Father's Caste Certificate: Bombay High Court

A child seeking admission in a school under the Right To Education (RTE) Act if furnishes the caste certificate of his or her mother, cannot be denied the quota facility by the authorities only on the ground of failure to produce caste certificate of his or her deceased father, held the Bombay High Court on Wednesday (July 22).Single-judge Justice Nijamoodin Jamadar held that the authorities cannot insist on the father's caste certificate when he has died and the child's mother's caste certificate has been brought on record. "The constitutional guarantee of free and compulsory education to children, and the substantive equality could not have been sacrificed at the alter of procedural rigidity of production of caste certificate of the father of the child. The Authorities ought to have granted admission to the child under RTE quota on the basis of the caste certificate of the mother of the child, without insisting for the production of the documents of the father of the child, construing the petitioner to be the sole parent of the child," Justice Jamadar held.The ruling came on a plea filed by a Pune-based woman, who challenged the decision of the Education Department cancelling her daughter's admission under the RTE quota on the sole ground of not furnishing her husband's caste certificate. The woman, who worked as a house help, stated that her husband died in 2021 and since then she has been shouldering the family's responsibility and raising her child single-handedly. She pointed out that she and her husband both belonged to the Nomadic Tribe (Dhangar) caste and thus, the authorities ought not to cancel the admission on the ground of non-furnishing of her husband's caste certificate. The petitioner woman also brought on record, her husband's school leaving certificate, which recorded his caste as 'NT (Dhangar)'. This very fact, when verified from the husband's school, the judge said, lent requisite assurance regarding the caste of the father of the child and, resultantly, that of the child."The insistence on the child being recognised, in all circumstances, solely by the caste of her father is not sustainable. It is not an immutable rule of law that, the child whatever the circumstances may be, must take the caste of her father. In a given set of circumstances, where the child suffers from the disadvantages and discriminations, which the mother of the child has suffered, the child may legitimately take the caste of her mother," Justice Jamadar observed. The bench opined that the authorities have not examined the matter from the perspective of the fundamental right of the child to have free and compulsory education and rather proceeded as if they were dealing with the routine administrative matter. "A denial of the admission under the Right to Education Act quota merely on the ground that though the mother's caste certificate was produced, the caste certificate of the father who had passed away, could not be produced, manifests a very myopic and constricted view of the matter," Justice Jamadar remarked. With these observations, the bench ordered the admission of the girl to the school, in which she was initially admitted under the RTE quota. Appearance:Advocates Bhushan Raut, Pritam Kulkarni, Vipul Patil and Shubhu Shirsath appeared for the Petitioner.Assistant Government Pleader SM Srivastava represented the State.Case Title: RYJ vs Principal Secretary, School Education Department (Writ Petition 7647 of 2026)Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Bom) 340Click Here To Read/Download Judgment

RTE Admission Can't Be Denied To Child Of Single Mother For Want Of Deceased Father's Caste Certificate: Bombay High Court

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RTE Admission Can't Be Denied To Child Of Single Mother For Want Of Deceased Father's Caste Certificate: Bombay High Court

Narsi Benwal

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