The question of who counts as a Delhi student to avail of the 85 percent reservation in Delhi government-run technical institutions recently came into query in a Delhi High Court case.

Admissions in Delhi government-run technical education institutes are governed and managed by The Delhi Diploma Level Technical Education Institutions (Forbidding of Capitation Fee, Regulation of Admission, Fixation of Non-Exploitative Fee and Other Efforts to Guarantee Equity and Excellence) Act, 2007.

Section 12(1)(b) of this Act expresses that 85% of the total seats are to be allotted for Delhi students, except for management seats, and the remaining 15% seats for the outside Delhi students or such additional allocation as the government might by notification in the official Gazette direct.

The word “Delhi candidate” is described in Section 3(g) of the Act as a candidate who has appeared or passed the qualifying examination from a recognized school or institution located in Delhi.

A student from Delhi who passed Class 12 from a Gurgaon school had made a request that Delhi residents who passed their qualifying examination within the National Capital Region should not be knocked down from the benefit of reservation.

The petition argued that the National Capital Region is an unusual instance of inter-state regional planning and development covering districts in Delhi, UP, Rajasthan, and Haryana and that it is a common approach that residents to work or attend schools in Gurgaon. It asserted that the rules disqualified Delhi residents if they pass their qualifying examination outside the National Capital. If a resident of any other state reserves his certificate of qualifying examination from a school in Delhi- they become fully eligible to avail of the benefits under the 2007 Act.

Court's Reply: The Delhi High Court refused the appeal. In his ruling, Justice Sanjeev Narula stated that the determining element to satisfy the benefit is the geographic location of the school providing the pass certificate of the qualifying examination, as objected to the residence of the student.

News Source: The Indian Express