Bombay High Court orders issuance of orphan certificates to 2 girls for taking NEET 2022

The Bombay High Court recently ordered the Mumbai District Women and Child Development Office to issue orphan certificates to two girls so as to enable them to apply for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test 2022 and pursue MBBS degree [The Nest India Foundation v. State of Maharashtra & Ors.].A Division Bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Madhav Jamdar noted that the girls had applied for orphan certificate in 2020 but their applications remained pending since then."The application is filed about two years back and till date the same is kept pending with the district office. The last date to apply to NEET 2022 to obtain admission in MBBS degree course was May 6, 2022 and the same has been extended for a short period. In view of this, we direct the authorities to issue and grant an orphan certificate to both petitioners, forthwith and in any case, within a period of seven days," the order stated..The Bench was seized of an interim application filed by Nest India Foundation that looked after orphan girls. The plea stated that the girls had applied for orphan certificates on November 24, 2020. The Child Welfare Committee, Mumbai Sub-Division recommended their cases to the district office. However, their applications remained pending since then. The trust argued that despite following up on phone and visiting the office of the authorities, the certificates were not issued. .The Women and Child Development Department (Konkan Division) in a communication dated May 6, 2022, stated that there are certain shortcomings in the application.The bench noted that from November 2020 till May 2022, the authorities failed to inform about the nature of deficiencies in the applications. "It is significant to note that the Child Welfare Committee, after considering the entire record recommended that the said students be granted Orphan certificate. Even today the authorities are unable to state the nature of deficiencies," the judges noted in the 6-page order directing that certificates be issued..Notably, the trust is facing a notice asking it to shift the 31 orphan girls in it to some other registered orphanage.The notice was issued on the grounds that the trust is not a registered child care institution under provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, and the Maharashtra State Judicial Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Rules.The trust stated that it had applied for registration way back in 2010 but since then it's plea is yet to be decided..Advocate Dr Abhinav Chandrachud along with Unnati Ghia and Rohit Sharma appeared for the trust. State authorities were represented by Government Pleader Poornima Kantharia..[Read Order]