WING COMMANDER V R RAJU I A F Vs. MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE BHARATIYA VIDYA BHAVAN PUBLIC SCHOOL JUBILEE HILLS HYDERABAD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This writ petition is directed against an order passed by the respondent- Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Public School dt. 13-2-88 terminating the services of the petitioner in accordance with clause 5 of the letter of appointment. The respondent.school is being run by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. When the post of Principal of the said School fell vacant a 'notification was issued inviting applications for the said post. Petitioner applied among others and he was appointed as the Principal through the letters of appointment dt. 25-11-1986 subject to the terms and conditions mentioned therein. The appointment took effect on and from 1-12-1986. Prior to this appointment, petitioner had served in the Indian Air Force for about 22 years. According to him during his service as Principal of this School, he brought about a remarkable improvement. Be that as it may, by its letter dt. 15-2-1988 the Management of the respondent School terminated the petitioner's appointment. The order of termination reads as follows:-

(2.) The validity of the said order is questioned in this writ petition on two grounds viz. (1) that the clause in the letter of appointment providing that the Management shall have the right to terminate the petitioner's service with a prior notice of three months or pay in lieu of such notice is violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India and therefore the order of termination issued in terms of the said condition is void; and (2) that the respondent-School has not obtained the prior approval of the competent authority before retrenching the petitioner as required by Section 83 of the A P Education Act.

(3.) The main objection urged on behalf of the respondent is that the writ Petition itself is not maintainable against this School in as much as it is not an agency or instrumentality of the State and therefore, not an authority within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution of India. It is submitted that in such a situation the writ petition itself is not maintainable since the contract of service between the parties is a pure and simple contract i. e., a non-statutory contract. It is also submitted that the A P. Education Act does not apply to the Institution.