Karnataka High Court comes to rescue of rural girl'

Bengaluru: A 17-year-old girl, now in PUC II, had to face a peculiar situation at the fag end of her schooling days. The school in which she studied from first till tenth standard was included in the urban zone and automatically the school lost its rural identity and the girl was denied the advantage of rural weightage.

The girl, Kavana, had approached the High Court seeking quashing of the endorsement which rejected her benefits. The rejection was on the ground that with from January 22, 2015, the area in which the school is situated (Challakere, Chitradurga) had been brought under the urban zone. She was not given a certificate to avail the benefits of rural weightage.

“For the peculiar circumstances of this nature, the state government has to issue necessary circulars/guidelines/instructions and in the absence of it, it is not advisable for this court to clarify it. However, in the best interest of the students of this nature, this court has to interfere by exercising its power under Article 226 of the Constitution of India," the court observed.

In its order dated June 19, 2017, it held that the petitioner is entitled for the benefit of rural weightage. “It is made clear that till the government passes order in this regard or till the issuance of circulars/instructions/clarifications, and so on, the students whoever have completed ninth standard and have got admitted to the tenth standard in the same institution; and in case if the area is brought into the urban zone, they all should invariably be issued with the rural weightage certificate,” court ordered.

The advocate for the girl had argued that since the petitioner had almost completed the course she should not be deprived of rural weightage benefit.

The high court directed the school to issue the certificate within two months time from the date of receipt of a certified copy of its order.