PRAKASH PANDHAINATH MORE Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioners, who are the residents of village Sadegaon in Taluka and District Parbhani, have filed this petition assailing the order dated 20. 4. 2000 passed by the Deputy Director of education at Aurangabad, granting permission to respondent no. 4 Ganga shikshan Prasarak Mandal to shift its existing School by name Yeshwant vidyalaya at Sadegaon to another village by name Tadkalas in Purna taluka of District Parbhani. By our order dated 27. 6. 2000, the said order was stayed by way of ad-interim relief in case the said order was not acted upon. It appears that in the intervening period Yeshwant Vidyalaya at sadegaon as well as Tadkalas was running separately. At the instance of respondent No. 4 and on some occasions the examination forms of the students studying in 10th standard were directed to be accepted by the hsc Board for a particular year.

(2.) IT is contended by the petitioners that the school at Sadegaon had sufficient number of students from 8th to 10th standards and there was no necessity for its shifting to Tadkalas in purna taluka and located at a distance of about 25 kms. The petitioners have also questioned the powers of the State Government to pass such transfer order, more so in respect of a school which otherwise had sufficient number of students at its original place.

(3.) ON the other hand, the respondent no. 4 has submitted that it was registered as trust under the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950, in 1993 and yeshwant Vidyalaya at Sadegaon came to be started in the academic year 1994-95 pursuant to the permission granted by the state Government on 10/4/1994. It states that on account of inadequate strength of the students it submitted an application on 4/6/1998 for transfer of its secondary school at Tadkalas from Sadegaon and the said proposal was turned down by the Government vide communication dated 23/2/1998. One post Basic ashram School (Secondary) by name Ahilya Devi Ashram School came to be started in the academic year 1999-2000 and the strength of Yeshwant vidyalaya at Sadegaon was further reduced. In additional the proposal submitted by Panchkalas Shikshan Prasarak Mandal for permission to open a secondary school at Tadkalas came to be rejected by the State government on 16/8/1999 and therefore, the respondent no. 4 approached the State Government afresh for transfer of the secondary school from village Tadkalas. The Government had called for the Viability report from the Education Officer as well as the Deputy Director of Education Vide communication dated 23/2/2000 and based on the recommendations submitted by the said authorities, the transfer of the school was allowed by order dated 10/4/2000 and the said order was communicated to the Deputy director of Education at Aurangabad.