PRATAP KISHORE MISRA Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The purported withdrawal of recognition of one Rebati Sanskrit Vidyalaya, a Sanskrit Tol and an aided school, has necessitated the filing of this petition for quashing of the same. The petitioner is the Secretary of the managing committee of the school. The facts, so far as relevant and undisputed, are that the school was founded in 1928 by the grandfather of the petitioner named after his mother and is affiliated to Shri Jagannath Sanskrit Vishvavidyalaya. The Government in the Education Department communicated a letter of 10-6-83 to the Director of Secondary Education, Orissa, opposite party No. 2, accepting the latter's proposal for de-recognition of the school and stating that the Tol was de-recognised with effect from 1-6-1982.

(2.) Assailing such decision of the State Government, Dr. S.C. Dash, learned counsel appearing for the petitioner, has urged the order to be without jurisdiction as being not contemplated under any statute; the principles of natural justice having not been followed inasmuch as no notice to show cause has been issued before such a decision was taken; the order being violative of the provisions of the Orissa Education (Establishment and Recognition of Private High Schools) Rules, 1979 (for brevity 'the Rules') having not complied with the required procedure under the rules if at all such rules are held applicable; and that the order is also mala fide having been passed upon a report of the opposite party No. 4 whose mala fide conduct had been established in a departmental enquiry. A counter affidavit has been filed by opposite parties 1 to 3 disputing such contentions and explaining that the order of de-recognition has been passed since there was no managing committee of the school; the school did not have a building of its own; the teachers were not present at the time of inspection, and hence it was recommended for abolition. A rejoinder affidavit has been filed by the petitioner refuting such assertions in the counter-affidavit and bringing out from the inspection report of the Administrative Officer (Schools) in the office of the D.P.I. the motivated actions of opposite party No. 4 as found by him and also showing from the inspection report of another Assistant Superintendent of 21st March 83 (Annexure-5) the non-mention of anything regarding the school being not housed in a building as also from another inspection report of 3-5-80 (Annexure-7) that the managing committee had provided a house for the institution and that the house of the institution should be repaired soon. It is the further case of the petitioner that the building of the school had been ravaged by the flood of 1980 and was completely damaged by the cyclone of June and thereafter again by the flood in Sept., 82. A new building was under construction which had been delayed on account of Government grant being misplaced at the disposal of the B.D.O. Patkura instead of B.D.O., Marshaghai. The communication from the Panchayat Samiti, Marshaghai of 8-7-83 to the petitioner intimating about the fact of misplacing of the fund and the fact that the building was nearing completion has been annexed as Annexure-10. It is thus claimed that the action taken was without any material on record.

(3.) A preliminary point has been raised by the learned Additional Standing Counsel questioning the locus standi of the petitioner to present the petition. It has been urged that since the managing committee of the school has not been reconstituted in accordance with the Orissa Education (Management of Private Schools) Rules, 1980 as amended, the managing committee is a defunct one and hence the petitioner has no competence to maintain the petition. It is urged that the managing committee having been approved on 8-9-75, it could not have a term of more than three years and at any rate could not continue beyond 15-11-81 in accordance with the provisions of R.12 of the Orissa Education (Management of Private Schools) Rules, 1980 which came into force on 15-11-80. In support of his contention, reliance has been placed on ILR (1979) 1 Cut 504 (Managing Committee of the Kelikadamba High School v. State of Orissa), where in supersession of managing committee had been challenged by some persons who were found not to be members of the managing committee at the relevant time. The objection however is without force. The decision has no application to the facts of the case apart from the question whether the petitioner was continuing as the Secretary of the managing committee or not. It is undoubtedly true that the petitioner is not only a resident of the area but also a person vitally interested as being one who is a member of the founder's family and is also a person with whom admittedly correspondences had been carried on by the educational authorities from time to time acknowledging him as the Secretary of the school. A school, as has been held in (1987) 2 Orissa (Krushna Chandra Sahu v. Director of Public Instruction), is a public institution discharging public duties catering to the needs of the public and hence while in case of supersession of a managing committee the public at large may not be said to have an interest justifying invoking the extraordinary jurisdiction under Art.226 of the Constitution at their instance, yet when the issue is one of abolition of the school altogether, the same consideration would not weigh and a member of the locality would be a person interested and capable of maintaining the petition before this court. He would be a person vitally interested in continuance of the school in his locality and his such interest cannot be defeated on a preconceived notion of an archaic concept relating to locus standi. No objection is available to be raised after the pronouncement of the Supreme Court in AIR 1983 SC 130 (D.S. Nakara v. Union of India) wherein an objection raised as to the maintainability of a petition at the instance of a co-operative society formed for ventilating public grievances and espousing the cause of some retired pensioners was negatived. Dealing with the question, the Court held as follows :-