MAHENDRA PRATAP SHASTRI AND OTHER Vs. CHAIRMAN, BOARD OF HIGH SCHOOL AND INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION, U.P., ALLAHABAD AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a petition under Art. 226 of the Constitution praying that a direction be issued to the opposite party No. 2 the Secretary, Board of High School and Intermediate Education, quashing his order of rejection of the petitioner's nomination and further to issue a writ of mandamus to the opposite parties to accept the petitioner's nomination and permit him to contest the election.

(2.) The petitioner is the Principal of D. A. V. Intermediate College Lucknow. He is a sitting member of the Board of High School and Intermediate Education, U. P. since 1946 from the constituency of Principals of Intermediate Colleges not maintained by the State Government under Sec. 3 (1) (c) of the Intermediate, Education Act, 1921. The D. A. V. College is a college not maintained by the state Government and it is maintained and managed by the Arya Samaj, Lucknow which is a registered society under the Societies Registration Act. In the year 1954 the Lucknow University permitted the society to open B. A. and B. Sc. classes in the College, and since then these classes are held in that college. According to the petitioner these classes are held as a separate and independent Sec. of the College. A separate committee for the management of the Degree Sec. has been constituted by the society. The staff of the Intermediate Sec. is also separate from the staff of the Degree section. According to the petitioner the budgets for the two sections are also separately prepared and the accounts of the two sections are separately maintained. Originally there were two Principals, one for the Intermediate Sec. and the other for the Degree Section; but now the present petitioner happens to be both the Principal of the Intermediate Sec. and the Degree Section. The Intermediate Sec. prepares candidates for the Intermediate Education of the Board. Notice was sent by the Secretary of the Board of Intermediate Education to the Principal D. A. V. Intermediate College, Lucknow, informing him that the President had fixed the 20th of Dec. 1956 as the date of election for four Principals of Intermediate Colleges not maintained by the State Government from among themselves. The Principal was further invited to nominate any eligible person for the said election. One Shri B. D. Chopra Principal of the Intermediate College, Lucknow, proposed the name of the petitioner for election to the Board from the said constituency and the petitioner consented to his nomination. By a letter dated the 13th of Nov. 1956 the Secretary informed the petitioner that he is not eligible to contest the election under Sec. 3(1) (c) of the Intermediate Education Act inasmuch as the D. A. V. College has been raised to the status of a Degree College. A letter was written by Sri B. D. Chopra to the opposite party pointing out that the nomination of the petitioner had been improperly rejected. He was however informed by a letter dated the 24th of Nov. 1956 by the Secretary that the Principal of a Degree College was not permitted to contest the election from the constituency of the Principals of non-Government Intermediate Colleges. Thereafter the petitioner took some legal advice in the matter and the present petition was filed in this Court on the 11th of Dec. 1956.

(3.) Notices were issued to the opposite parties. A counter affidavit has been filed on behalf of the Secretary of the Board of High School and Intermediate Education. In paragraph 15 of the counter-affidavit it is stated that the petitioner was appointed as a teacher of Hindi in the Degree College by resolution No. 13 dated the 17th of July 1954 of the Executive Council of the Lucknow University. One of the conditions of the recognition of the College was that "there would be separate teaching staff for the B. A. and B. Com. classes and such teachers would not be given any teaching work for the Intermediate classes." The petitioner violated the resolution and discipline imposed by the Statute. He was working as a Principal of the Degree College as well as University Lecturer in Hindi since the 23rd of July 1954. It is further pointed out in the counter affidavit that one of the conditions of the recognition prescribed by the Statute of the Lucknow University is that the whole time services of the teacher shall be at the disposal of the College and that special permission must be obtained for engaging in other activities. On the 17th of Dec. 1956 the Lucknow University Registrar informed the petitioner that he had not obtained any permission to work as Principal of the Intermediate College also. It is further alleged in the counter affidavit that in accordance with the provisions of the U. P. Education Code a Principal of an Intermediate College must give his whole time to the services of the Intermediate College and must not take up any work unconnected with the aforesaid College without obtaining the previous sanction of the Committee. It is not in the public interest that Principal of Intermediate College should be given permission to take up any work unconnected with their College as this tends to lower the educational standards. Both the jobs held by the petitioner are whole time jobs and he has thus been occupying both the posts simultaneously in violation of the spirit and letter of the law. It is however significant to note that in the counter affidavit the fact that the two sections of the D. A. V. College are managed by separate committees and have separate teaching staff has not been denied. It has also not been denied that the petitioner is working both as the Principal of the D. A. V. Intermediate College and the Degree Sec. of the said College. By means of a supplementary counter affidavit it is also pointed out that on the 30th of Nov. 1956 the office of the Board of Intermediate Education sent out ballot papers to all the Principals of Intermediate College with an intimation that the last date for the receipt of the ballot papers duly filled in was the 20th of Dec. 1956. In paragraph 4 of the supplementary affidavit details have been given of the number of ballot papers duly filled in received in the office of the Board on different dates from the various teachers from all over the State of Uttar Pradesh. The ballot papers started coming in front the 3rd of Dec. 1956. From the 3rd of Dec. 1956 till the 12th of Dec. 1956 the office had received 175 ballot papers and thereafter up to the 20th of Dec. 1956 the office had received 472 ballot papers.