Bombay High Court Raps Maharashtra Govt Over Refusal To Extend Reservation For Orphan Students To Abandoned Children

The Bombay High Court on Thursday came down heavily on the Maharashtra Government for its refusal to extend the 1% reservation for orphan students in education, to abandoned children as well.

A division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokhale also criticized the State’s combative approach while responding to most petitions. “When will this government wake up and realize it is not the only one right and in fact it is mostly wrong?”

“I will unabashedly say this, what the government is asking us to believe is it does not care about abandoned children,” said Justice Patel said.

The court was hearing a petition by trust NEST Foundation that sought for an orphan certificate to be issued to two of its inmates and consider them for admission under the 1% horizontal reservation category in education. The girls were abandoned since age 4-5 and their mother hardly visited. Following a High Court order the girls were recently issued an “abandoned child certificate.”

On Thursday, the court was livid after perusing the affidavit filed by Sharad Ahire, joint secretary, Women and Child Development Department. Ahire claimed that “abandoned,” “surrendered” and “orphan” children were all defined under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and being children in need of care and protection. But the reservation for orphan couldn’t be extended to all of them.

He cautioned that parents or guardians may abandon or surrender the child intentionally and misuse the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015.

Advocates Abhinav Chandrachud and Akanksha Agrawal had asked if a parent would abandon the girls only to benefit from a State reservation policy.

Justice Patel wondered if the officer even understood the mental state of a parent who abandons their own child. “The gender may hinder me from understanding the plight of a mother abandoning a child. Even as a father, it is unimaginable,’’ the judge said.

"A child needed parents. Remove parents from the equation and the child is either orphaned or abandoned. The single determining factor is lack of parenting,” Justice Patel said.

Regarding the WCD’s apprehension that children would be deliberately surrendered by parents, the Judge said, “Good..Why not?"

“Every single matter the government operates with contradiction. We have to be combative.. We must oppose. When will this government wake up to the realisation that it is not the only one right and it is in fact mostly wrong?” asked Justice Patel.

The bench has now posted the matter for judgement on March 31, 2023.