SANSKARBHARTI AMRAPUR Vs. GOVERNMENT OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In this group of matters the petitioners who are the educational institutions have challenged the orders by which their grants have been withheld on the ground that they do not own 15 acres of land for their schools as contemplated by Rule 125 of the Grand in Aid Code for the post basic schools.

(2.) The action in all these cases initiated by the District Education Officers was triggered because of the Government Orders issued on 20.6.1989 by which it was directed that the grant for the year 1988-89 should be released to such schools provided they were in possession of 50% of the required land as per the Rules and that the ownership rights should be obtained by them in respect of such land and the remaining land should be acquired by them so that they can be given the grant for the current year. On the basis of these orders dated 20.6.1989 which were addressed to the Director of Higher Education, the Director in turn issued orders on 11.5.1990 to all the District Education Officers. In the communication issued by the Director of Higher Education the Government Orders dated 20.6.1989 were referred to and the District Education Officers were directed to effect recovery from the Educational Institutions which were not having 15 acres of land and further that no grants should be released to such institutions. It was endorsed below that direction that the pay bills forwarded by such schools should not be passed from June 1990 onwards. The District Education Officers on the strength of these directions of the Government and the Director of Higher Education issued orders on the respective schools withholding the grant on the ground that they did not own the land. To illustrate, in the order of the District Education Officer dated 6.12.1990, a copy of which is at Annexure-J in Special Civil Application No.394 of 1991, there is reproduced a communication on the reverse of that document to the District Education Officer from the Director of Higher Education stating that if the institution was not owning the land, it was not to be given the grant and that if the land was taken on lease, the school would not be liable to grant because it cannot be said to be a land belonging to the school. It is on the strength of this communication that the letter dated 6.12.1990 was addressed by the District Education Officer to the school concerned. Similarly, in Special Civil Application No.6129 of 1990 the impugned orders at Annexure-A, B and C also indicate that the District Education Officers had understood the directions of the Government contained in the order dated 20th June 1989 to mean that the school should possess the land on ownership basis for becoming eligible to the grant under Rule 125 of the Grant in Aid Code. Admittedly, in all other petitions the District Education Officers have proceeded to withhold the grants or refuse to issue fresh grants on the footing that the schools did not own 15 acres of land. In many of these petitions, as was noted during the arguments, the schools were having 15 acres of land. In some cases, they did have 15 acres of land but were not owners of the land. For the year 1989-90 it appears that Rule was relaxed and the schools which had at least 50% of the required area of land were released the grant with the condition that they should acquire the remaining land on ownership basis. The indication that the land should be acquired by them on ownership basis in the order dated 20.6.1989 has triggered off the authorities for withholding the grants to many of the schools who were already receiving the grant for quite a number of years.

(3.) Admittedly, all these schools are post basic schools and agriculture is taught as the main craft. Rule 125 of the Grant in Aid Code, which is relevant, reads as under:- RULE 125: