ARYA PRATINIDHI SABHA Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This writ application under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India has been filed for quashing the order contained in Memo No. 4578-81, dated 21.9.1974 issued by the District Education Officer, Dhanbad (Respondent no. 2), a copy of which was forwarded to the Secretary, D. A. V. Middle School, Dhanbad, by the Headmaster of the said School under Memo no. 2/74 dated 12.10.1974 (Annexure 5 to the writ application). Wy the impugned order, the District Education Officer informed the Secretary that the school was nationalised and its teachers would get the new scale of pay from the month of September, 1974 and that the Secretary will have no control over the management of the school in question.

(2.) The case of the petitioner is that the School was run by an organisation of persons professing Arya Samaj faith, a religious minority within the meaning of Articles 29 and 30 of the Constitution and, therefore, the petitioners were entitled to administer the said educational institution which was established by them. I may now briefly state the relevant facts.

(3.) The first petitioner is Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, a registered Organisation of persons professing Arya Samaj faith. Petitioner no. 2 is the President of the Sabha and petitioner no. 3 is the Vice-President of the Dhanbad branch of the Sabha It is alleged by the petitioners that the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha has established several schools, including the school in question at Dhanbad, with a view to teach, among other subjects, the Vedic culture and to preserve and propagate the ideals of Vedas and Vedic Dharma. The school in question was originally started as a Harijan Pathshala. It was later on converted into a lower Primary School for boys and girls in the year 19 9 and was raised to the status of an upper Primary School in the year 1941 and then to a Middle School in the year 1944. The school soon became very popular and (hereafter persons professing Arya Samaj faith also established a High School within its compound and named it as D. A. V. High School. The school in question is located in the Arya Samaj Mandir at Dhanband. The petitioners have traced the history as to how the people professing the Arya Samaj faith donated land and funds for the construction and establishment of Arya Samaj temple and like institutions. It may be mentioned that the school has been receiving grants-in-aid from the State Governmem. It is claimed by the petitioners that all the properties of the School belong to and are vested in the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha and its management in a Managing Committee duly constituted by the members of the local Arya Samaj. The petitioners further claim that besides teaching for conservation of Vedic culture, Vedic Prayers are offered by the students and teachers of the School everv day and Vedic hawan is performed every week in the Yajna Shala which is located in the premises of the School, which is a part of the school curriculum. It is said that earlier in the year 1966 also, the officers of the Education Department tried to interfere with the administration of the High School and the petitioners had to file a writ application (C. W, J. C. no. 321 of 1966) ia this court, in which they succeeded and the respondents were restrained from interferring with the rights of the peiitioners to administer the said High School by order, dated 6.12.67.