MONIKA JAIN Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioners in this writ petition have claimed that at Jasma, the school was promoted by the respondent department for girls vide Annex. 2 dated 1.7.1999. Pursuant to this upgradation the present petitioners took admission in Class IX. Without there being any reason, the order Annex. 5 was passed by the respondent State whereby the upgradation of the school at Jasma was withdrawn. Instead a school at Nilodh was sought to be promoted. The case of the petitioners is that the act of the respondents is arbitrary. Having upgraded a school they could not have degraded it to the detriment of the petitioners because the right to education is a right enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution of India as has been held by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Unni Krishnan, J.P. and Ors. v. State of Andhra Pradesh and Ors. reported in : [1993]1SCR594 .

(2.) THE second ground of the learned Counsel for the petitioners to attack the order Annex. 5 is that this has violated the principles of natural justice. No one was heard before passing of the order impugned and, thus, the right which has accrued to the petitioners has been infringed. He has placed reliance on a Supreme Court decision rendered in Gadde Venkateswara Rao v. Government of Andhra Pradesh and Ors. reported in : [1966]2SCR172 .

(3.) COUNSEL for the State has contested the stand of the petitioners and has stated that the order of upgradation was passed on 1.7.1999 and on 9.7.1999 the order of revocation of upgradation has been passed. Thus, before any unreasonable delay was caused, the correction was made. In terms of Annex.4 the petitioners took admission on 19.7.1999 i.e. after revocation of the order upgrading the school. Therefor, no right has been accrued to the petitioners in claiming preference on the basis of the admission sought by them. Since the right to the petitioners if at all accrued only after 19.7.1999 and the order of revocation has already been passed on 9.7.1999. Therefore, they have no right to be heard in the matter. Further at Jasma there is already a secondary school may be that it is not exclusively for the girls but the girls can also be admitted in that school. Therefore, it cannot be said that the petitioners have no place to take admission. Further at the new place there is no school of secondary level and, therefore, the students of that area have been benefited by upgradation.