The Bombay High Court on Thursday slammed the Maharashtra government for refusing to extend the 1% reservation for orphan students in education, to abandoned children as well.
The State’s confrontational approach in replying to most petitions was also condemned by a division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokhale. “When will this government wake up and realize it is not the only one right and in fact it is mostly wrong?” the bench stated.
“I will unabashedly say that what the government wants us to believe is that it does not care about abandoned children,” Justice Patel stated.
The court was hearing a petition from the trust NEST Foundation, which sought that an orphan certificate be provided to two of its inmates so that they might be considered for admission under the 1% horizontal reserve category in education. The girls had been abandoned when they were 4-5 years old, and their mother rarely visited them. The girls were recently issued an “abandoned child certificate” as a result of a High Court order.
The court was furious on Thursday after reading the affidavit produced by Sharad Ahire, joint secretary, Women and Child Development Department. Ahire stated that the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 designated “abandoned,” “surrendered,” and “orphan” children as minors in need of care and protection. Therefore, the orphan reservation could not be extended to everyone.
He warned that parents or guardians may purposefully leave or surrender their children and therefore misuse the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act of 2015.
Advocates Abhinav Chandrachud and Akanksha Agrawal questioned whether a parent would abandon their daughters just to take advantage of a State reservation policy.
Justice Patel questioned if the officer understood the mental state of a parent who abandons their own kid. “The gender may make it difficult for me to grasp the anguish of a mother abandoning a kid. It’s unimaginable, even for a father,” the judge added.
“A child need parental care. When parents are removed from the picture, the child is either orphaned or abandoned. The sole determining element is a lack of parenting,” Justice Patel stated.
Addressing the WCD’s concern that children might be intentionally surrendered by parents, the Judge said, “Good, Why not?”
“The government functions with contradiction in every single matter. We must be confrontational. We must fight back. When will this government realise that it is not the only one who is correct, and that it is, in fact, mainly incorrect?” Justice Patel asked.
The bench listed the matter for judgement on March 31, 2023.
