The High Court on Thursday ruled that educational institutions cannot compel admission seekers to disclose their marital status for admissions.
The HC bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Md Khairul Alam delivered the verdict after a hearing on a rule that in December 2017 questioned the legality of educational institutions seeking information on the marital status of admission seekers.
Following the HC judgment, no student can be forced to disclose their marital status for admission to any institution across the country, said Deputy Attorney General Amit Das Gupta, who represented the state in the case.
The HC also declared illegal Rajshahi Government Nursing College's action of asking a rape victim to write that her husband abandoned her in the admission form, he also said.
Following a writ petition, the HC, on December 11, 2017, issued a rule upon the government to explain why asking about marital status in case of admission procedure in educational institutions should not be declared unconstitutional.
The HC bench of Justice Quazi Reza-ul Hoque and Justice Mohammad Ullah passed the order after hearing a writ petition filed on the admission complication of an admission seeker who gave birth to a child after she had been raped.
The court also directed the Rajshahi Government Nursing College authorities to admit that admission seeker. After the final hearing on the rule, the HC bench declared the rule absolute on Thursday.
Earlier, the college authorities asked her to write ‘husband abandonment’ in the vacuum place of the admission form of the college.
Supreme Court Lawyers Fahria Ferdous and Nahid Sultana Jenny filed the writ petition considering a report published on November 14, 2017, in a Bangla daily under the banner of “Meyeti akhon ki korbe? (What will do the girl now?)”.
Barrister Aneeq R Haque took part in the hearing on behalf of the writ petitioners, while Deputy Attorney General Amit Das Gupta represented the state.