Essay event planned for Governance Day extended to Dec 26

The court, in its order, noted that the “challenge is primarily on the ground that the celebration of Good Governance Day on December 25 is against the spirit of Articles 14,15,16, 19,21 and 25 of the Constitution.

The plea was filed by P B Prince Gajendra Babu for the Tamil Nadu-based State Platform for Common School System (SPCSS). The plea alleged that since the competition included a cash prize and merit certificates for the students, they would be “constrained to participate” and children who are celebrating Christmas would not be able to participate.

Senior advocate Amit Sibal, who appeared on behalf of the petitioner, argued that students would “lose out” on the opportunity to participate if the competition was held on the Christmas holiday.

After the court asked the Centre to clarify its position, Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain told the court that the essay writing competition would be extended to December 26.

During the hearing, ASG Jain pointed out that competitions were often held on festivals and cited the example of Onam. But the court said the issue was that children would not be able to participate.

“The ASG has submitted that the competition to mark Good Governance Day through an online essay competition in all CBSE schools will not be confined only to December 25. Children will be given the option of submitting the essay on December 26,” the court said.

The High Court asked the Centre to make the extended date public through radio, television and print media.