MANAGING COMMITTEE SAYEED Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE Managing Committee of Sayeed Seminary, Nimasahi in the city of Cuttack and its Headmaster are the Writ Petitioners seeking for the relief of declaration that the Sayeed Seminary, a High School recognized by the Government of Orissa and the Board of Secondary Education, Orissa, was established and administered by the Muslim Community of the State and that of Cuttack city and as such comes within the purview of Section 2 of Orissa Education Act, 1969 and for quashing the Government Order dated 29.3.1995 refusing to declare the said institution as a Minority Community managed educational institution.

(2.) BRIEFLY stated Petitioners case is that, the Minority Community, the Muslims of Orissa and more particularly of Cuttack town being prevented by poverty and financial backwardness from continuing their education and/or academic career beyond primary classes felt the need for establishing a Minority Community institution for educational and social upliftment of the muslims. In the year 1913, an educational institution named 'Moslem Seminary' was established in Cuttack town by Moulavi Mohammad Sayeed and the institution was administered and managed by the Muslim Community of Cuttack city. The school is situated over a plot of land comprising AC. 5.278 acres purchased by Mr. C. Abdul Hakim at a cost of Rs. 10,000/ - in or about the year 1919. A double storeyed building was constructed with the donation raised from muslim residents of the locality and other eminent muslim citizens of India. In all Government records, ROR, Patta and Survey Map, the area over which the school is situated has been recorded in the name of 'Moslem Seminary'. Moslem Seminary subsequently was renamed as 'Sayeed Seminary' in memory of its founder Mohammad Sayeed Saha. The property and the institution is a wakf property and it has been so registered under the provisions of the Wakf Act, 1954. From the date of its inception, the institution established by the Minority Community is being run and administered by the said community. Public spirited persons of the Minority Community donated liberally for administration of the institution. The then Nizam of Hyderabad (Lt. Gen. Sir Mir Usman Ali Khan Bahadur) made quite a substantial contribution to the institution for its management and administration. The school thus was founded, established and administered by the Minority Community, the muslims. But the students of all communities are allowed to be admitted to the institution and are imparted education. But, however, the Minority -Community -students constituted the majority among the students. The Managing Committee elected from time to time by the Minority Community is constituted of mostly the members belonging to the muslim community and no students belonging to any other religion, race or language has ever been deprived by the management to be educated in this institution. It is further asserted that the institution has maintained a fair standard of teaching and Urdu has been accepted as the medium of education in the institution from Class -V to Class -IX besides the local language Oriya. It is further asserted that the correspondence of the Government Department and the management would indicate that the Government has throughout treated the school as a Minority Community educational institution. The State, for the last eight decades, has been assuring the Managing Committee that Sayeed Seminary is the singular institute belonging to the Minority Community and recognized and treated the same as Minority Community institute and as such the Petitioners had legitimate expectation that the demand, request and representation of the Managing Committee to declare the institution as such would be accepted. However, the Headmaster of the school on 10.6.93 while requesting the Inspector of Schools for a declaration that the Institution is a Minority Community institution submitted all relevant papers/records for the purpose. The Inspector of Schools visited the schools in August, 1994 and conducted an enquiry for the purpose of declaration of Sayeed Seminary as a Minority Community institution. The management of the institution produced before him all relevant records relating to the institution. The Inspector of Schools, by his letter dated 29.11.94, recommended to the State Government, through the Director, Secondary Education to declare the said school as a Minority Community institution. The then Minister of Health, who belonged to the Minority Community, also recommended to the Minister of Mass Education to declare the institute as a minority institution by a letter dated 24.12.93. The Government, without applying its mind to the facts and circumstances and the report of the Inspector by a bald order refused to recognize and declare the institute as a Minority Community institute and conveyed the said decision by letter dated 24.5.95, copies of which are Annexure 9 and Annexure -9/1.

(3.) THE Opposite Parties 3 and 4, who have been allowed to intervene in the matter by Order dated 23.9.1996, have also filed their separate counter affidavit denying and refuting the claim made by the Writ Petitioners. The establishment of the school in 1913 has been admitted. However, it has been stated that prior to 1913, in Victoria High School which is renamed as Bhakta Madhu Vidyapitha, there were reservation of seats for Muslim and Hindu students, as a result of which there was protest by two eminent teachers namely, Moulavi Md. Sayeed and one Mr. Patnaik, that there should not be any reservation for Muslim and Hindu students while taking admission. But the management did not yield or hear their protest, as a result of which, the aforesaid two teachers left the institution and started 'Seminary, which was of a secular status. The assertion of the Writ Petitioners that the property of the institution has been recorded as wakf property has been disputed by these opposite parties on the ground that while recording the property as wakf property, the provision of the Wakf Act and the Rules framed thereunder have not been fulfilled. It is the claim of the Opposite Parties 3 and 4 that the institution is a public and secular institution and the management had no authority to get it registered as wakf property. These Opposite Parties have given instances to the effect that at different points of time, the Managing Committee was constituted of both Hindu and Muslims and reconstitution/constitution of Managing Committee was being approved by the Inspector of Schools in terms of the provisions of Orissa Education Act and Rules framed thereunder. The Writ Petitioners have filed their additional affidavits and documents in support of the claim made in the Writ Petition.