QUEEN MARY PUBLIC SCHOOL Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The short but important question that has been raised in this bunch of writ petitions is whether the Government of Kerala is justified in taking the decision not to issue No Objection Certificate for affiliation to Central Board of Secondary Education to private unaided schools in the entire State, barring 5 Districts namely Kasargod, Kannur, Kozhikode, Wayanad and Malappuram and that too only in certain areas of those Districts where extreme educational backwardness among the members of a particular religious community persists.

(2.) In the nature of the commonality of the issue, it may not be necessary to refer to the individual grievances of the petitioners as highlighted by them in their respective writ petitions. But the identical grievance is that the applications submitted by the petitioners for grant of No Objection Certificate for affiliation are being refused to be considered by the Government in the light of its order (GO (P) 107/07/G.Edn) dated June 13, 2007. It is contended by the petitioners that the Government cannot, in the guise of policy, refuse to grant No Objection Certificate for affiliation by issuing such a blanket order of prohibition to the schools in majority of the Districts in the State, while granting the benefit to the applicants from only a handful of districts and that too restricting it to certain areas where educational backwardness allegedly persists in respect of a particular religious community.

(3.) In this context it is pertinent to note that No Objection Certificates for affiliation were being issued by the Government in the past, in terms of the guidelines / stipulations contained in GO (MS) 18/88/G.Edn. dated January 12, 1988. A large number of private unaided institutions in the State have got affiliation till 2004-05 on the basis of the above order. But it appears that during 2006 the applications submitted by the petitioners and several others were refused to be entertained by the Government on the ground that it was waiting for the report of a High Level Committee constituted for the purpose of recommending "the principles and guidelines to be followed in sanctioning new schools, upgrading and recognising existing schools and for giving NOC for CBSE/ICSE affiliated institutions."