STATE OF MAHARASHTRA SAKHARKHERDA EDUCATION SOCIETY SAKHARKHERDA Vs. LOK SHIKSHAN SANSATHA:THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) All these three appeals, on certificate, are directed against the common judgment and order dated December 2, 1966 of the Bombay High Court in Special. Civil Applications Nos. 694 of 1965 and 420 and 421 of 1966. Civil Appeals Nos. 160 of 161 of 1968 are filed by the State of Maharashtra and the Deputy Director of Education, Nagpur against that part of the order of the High Court allowing Special Civil Applications Nos. 420 and 421 of 1966 after holding that clauses (1) and (2) of Section 3 of the Grant-in-aid Code (hereinafter to be referred as the Code) are invalid and directing the State of Maharashtra to grant the petitioners in the said Special Civil Applications permission to start schools in the areas concerned as desired by them. Civil Appeal No. 878 of 1968 is by the applicant in Special Civil Application No. 694 of 1965 against the order of the High Court dismissing his writ petition and declining to interfere with the order of the State and educational authorities granting permission to the third respondent in the appeal to open a new school at Sakharkherda with VIII and IX classes.

(2.) We will first deal with Civil Appeal Nos. 160 and 161 of 1968 and refer to the facts leading up to those appeals. Civil Appeal No. 160 of 1968, as mentioned above, arises out of the order in Special Civil Application No. 420 of 1966. The applicant in the said application Loka Shikshan Sanstha Anjansinghi made an application dated October 30, 1965, to the Deputy Director of Education, Nagpur for permission to open a school during the year 1966-67 at Anjansinghi in Amravati district. The application was sent in the prescribed form. Therein it was stated that the Management was not registered and that it will get itself registered by about the middle of January, 1966. Under the heading "Arrangements made for necessary furniture and apparatus" in Col. 13, the applicant stated that they proposed to spend about Rs. 2,000/- in respect of furniture, science apparatus, teaching aids, teachers' library and pupil's library. The break up of the figures under these heads was also given. In col. 15 under the heading "Funds at the disposal of the management in addition to those in Col. 13 above", the applicant stated Rs. 5,000/- only. The applicant further stated under col. 17 that it required only a token grant in the first year of recognition and a regular grant at the prescribed rate from the second year. The Ashok Education Society, Ashoknagar, the third respondent in the writ petition had also applied to the educational authorities to start a school during the same year at Anjansinghi: the writ petitioner filed an objection dated March 8, 1966 before the Deputy Director of Education, Nagpur objecting to the grant of permission asked for by the Ashok Education Society, Ashoknagar on the ground that the said Society is an outside agency. In the said petition the applicant reuqested for favourable consideration of his application, already submitted, to the authorities. The District Committee which scrutinized the applications of both the parties, recommended that the application of the writ petitioner should be rejected as it had no funds. Another Society with good financial position and experience was recommended by the Committee. The District Committee recommended that Ashok Education Society should be granted permission as it was a good, experienced and popular society and it was also financially sound. The Deputy Director of Education by his order dated April 12, 1966 rejected the application of the writ petitioner on the ground that the need of the place has been fulfilled by permitting another society to open a school at the place. The petitioner was further informed that in case any school is started when permission has been refused, serious view will be taken by the educational authorities. The writ petition filed an appeal on April 21, 1966 to the State Government wherein he prayed for withdrawing permission granted to the Ashok Education Society, the third respondent and also requested that permission may be granted to the applicant society to open a school. This appeal was rejected by the Government by its order dated 10/16th May, 1966. The applicant society filed the writ petition and prayed for striking down Rule 3 of the Grant-in-aid Code framed by the State of Maharashtra as unconstitutional and violative of fundamental rights guaranteed under Art. 19 (1) (c) of the Constitution and to quash the orders of the Deputy Director of Education and the State Government refusing permission to the petitioner Society to start a school at Ajansinghi. The applicant further prayed for a direction being issued to the educational authorities to grant permission to start the school as requested by it.

(3.) As common contentions had been raised by the State of Maharashtra in this writ petition and also in Special Civil Application No. 421 of 1966 before the High Court, we will refer to those contentions after adverting to the facts in Special Civil Application No. 421 of 1966.