Students’ marital status not mandatory for admission, says High Court

The High Court declared the educational institutions’ query about students’ marital status during admission as illegal

Educational institutions must not ask students to disclose their marital status mandatorily during admission, the High Court said.

The bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Md Khairul Alam issued an order on Thursday, declaring the age-old practice illegal.

“Earlier, many educational institutions asked for marital status information, but the High Court has made the practice illegal,” said Deputy Attorney General Amit Dasgupta.

The High Court order applies to all educational institutions, including colleges and universities.

The deputy attorney general shared the background of the High Court order. “When a rape victim sought admission to a nursing college, the authorities asked about her marital status. She had a son, but she was unmarried. The victim was denied admission as she was not married but had a child,” he said.

“The authorities suggested she should mention ‘divorced’ as her marital status and denied her admission after she refused to do so. Eventually, the Supreme Court lawyers filed a petition for her, and the High Court issued the order.”