12-07-11. Gujarat High Court at Sola in Ahmedabad. Photo by Kevin Antao.
Her counsel urged the court to interpret or read down Rule 4(6) to extend its benefit to children of Central govt employees posted outside Gujarat, arguing she was similarly shifted to wards of defence and other personnel covered by the exception. After the hearing, Justice Aniruddha Mayee of HC found NTRO to be under ministry of home affairs and not a defence service, and held that reading Rule 4(6) to include additional categories would amount to judicial legislation. Ahmedabad: Gujarat High Court has held that India’s premier technical intelligence organisation, National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), was not a defence organisation. The student filed a petition in HC citing her father’s transferable job with NTRO. He also cited an order by Gauhati High Court terming NTRO as a defence organisation. The state govt opposed the plea, arguing NTRO was not a defence organisation, but was under the ministry of home affairs, and that the court could not expand the categories enumerated in the rule without a challenge to the validity of the rule.
The order states, “The findings of this court differs from the findings rendered in the said judgment that the NTRO is an intelligence wing of defence establishment. The said finding is contrary to the documents produced on record by the petitioner in the present case, and hence the said judgment is not applicable.” HC turned down the plea and differed from Gauhati HC’s view that NTRO is a defence organisation.