Entrance woes

According to the 2007 guidelines of the Kendriya Vidyalayas, the age of a child for admission to pre-primary classes had to be four years as on 30.09.2007. After completing their pre-primary classes in 2007-08, several children were denied admission to Class I in 2008 as their date of birth did not meet the cut-off date criterion, which had been brought forward from September 30 to April 1. The parents of these children filed a writ petition. The school reasoned that its decision was based on a Delhi High Court order that a child had to be five years of age on the date of commencement of the admission proceedings and not on the date it ended. The Orissa High Court held that denying children admission merely on grounds of age was unfair. (Biswam Patra vs Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan)

No distress here

A referral court in Orissa determined the value of a piece of land acquired by Nalco Ltd at a price higher than the one fixed by the land acquisition collector. The company moved court, demanding a lowering of the land valuation. It cited cases in which transactions had been made at lower prices in the area. The Orissa High Court, however, held that when the compensation amount for acquired land was being determined, the model of individual transactions was of no use as these could be prompted by distress. In the case of acquisition by a company, it was the intrinsic value of the land that mattered. (Executive director Nalco Ltd vs Prasanna)

Retired, hurt

An assistant general manager of Andhra Bank submitted his application for voluntary retirement but subsequently made a request for its withdrawal. Without paying heed to his request, however, the bank relieved him from service by paying him his retirement benefits. The assistant general manager moved court, seeking continuity of service. The bank said that since he had already accepted his retirement benefits he could not be reinstated. But the Andhra Pradesh High Court held that as he had asked for reinstatement well within the notice period of three months, he was entitled to seeking continuity of service. (V. Vishnu Vardhan Reddy vs Andhra Bank)