IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
WP(C).No. 24245 of 2010(E)
1. THE PRESIDENT,PARENT TEACHER'S
... Petitioner
2. THE TEACHER IN CHARGE, -DO-
Vs
1. THE STATE OF KERALA REPRESENTED BY ITS
... Respondent
2. THE DIRECTOR OF HIGHER SECONDARY
3. THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION,
4. THE DISTRICT EDUCTIONAL OFFICER,
5. THE HEADMASTER,GOVERNMENT HIGH SCHOOL,
For Petitioner :SRI.V.A.MUHAMMED
For Respondent : No Appearance
The Hon'ble MR. Justice C.T.RAVIKUMAR
Dated :11/08/2010
O R D E R
C.T. RAVIKUMAR, J.
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W.P.(C). NO. 24245 OF 2010
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Dated this the 11th day of August, 2010
JUDGMENT
The first petitioner is the President of the Parent Teachers’
Association of Government High School, Chullikkode in Malappuram
District and the second petitioner is the Teacher-in-charge of the said
school. This Writ Petition has been filed mainly with the following
prayers:-
i) call for the records relating to Exhibits P-8 and
quash the original of the same to the extent it grant
Higher secondary courses in High School, Muthuvallur
in preference to Government High School, Chullikode.
ii) issue a writ of mandamus or other appropriate writ
order or direction commanding the 1st and 2nd
respondents to grant Higher Secondary Courses to
Government High School, Chullikode.
2. A scanning of the contentions in the Writ Petition would
reveal that the grievance of the petitioners is against the granting of Higher
Secondary Course in Government High School, Muthuvallur.
3. At the very outset, it is to be noted that both the schools are
W.P.(C) NO.24245/2010 2
Government schools situated in the very same panchayath viz.,
Muthuvallur Grama Panchayath. The learned Government pleader
submitted that petitioners’ school cannot claim the status of a Government
High School since the high school section of the said school is being run
only on the basis of Exts.P4 and P5 interim orders of this Court. In that
context, it is relevant to refer to certain aspects discernible from the Writ
Petition itself. Earlier, as per Ext.P1 G.O dated 27.11.2007, Government
have sanctioned one high school in Muthuvallur and decided to upgrade
G.M.U.P School Chullikkode as high school. As per Ext.P2 G.O dated
21.1.2008, Ext.P1 order was revoked by the Government. Thereupon, the
first petitioner herein preferred an appeal against Ext.P2 G.O before the
Government. Aggrieved by the delay in the matter of disposal of the said
appeal, the first petitioner moved W.P.(C).No.13707/2008 before this
Court. The said Writ Petition was disposed of with a direction to consider
the appeal preferred by the petitioner therein. After such consideration,
the Government have issued Ext.P3 order. Ext.P3 in so far as it is relevant
reads thus:
a) Government order G.O(MS) 2002/07/G.EDn. Dated
27.11.2007 to the effect that GMUP School Chullikodu
is upgraded as a High School is cancelled.
W.P.(C) NO.24245/2010 3
b) Students admitted to class 8 in GMUP school,
Chullikkodu during 2007-2008 shall be issued TC and
directed to be admitted in the schools of their choice to
the standards to which they are entitled to be admitted.
4. The said order was challenged by the first petitioner herein as
W.P.(C).No.16660/2008. It is still pending before this Court. Ext.P4 is
the interim order passed by this Court in the said Writ Petition. Later, the
matter was referred to a Division Bench of this Court and Ext.P5 is the
order passed by the Division Bench in the said Writ petition. Ext.P5 order
reads as follows:
“We make it clear that the interim order dated
4.6.2008 passed by this Court will confine only to the
Government High School, Chullikode. Therefore, it
will be open to the Government to take appropriate
action in respect of other schools. There will be a
direction to the third respondent Deputy Director of
Education, Malappuram to see that the required
teaching staff are deputed in the Government High
School, Chullikode, within ten days from today.”
The above mentioned undisputed facts would reveal that G.M.U.P School
Chullikode is presently working as a Government High School,
W.P.(C) NO.24245/2010 4
Chullikode based only on Exts.P4 and P5 interim orders passed by this
Court in W.P.(C).No.16660/2008. In other words, the very status of the
petitioners’ school depends upon the outcome of W.P.(C).No.16660/2008.
Therefore, it is based on the aforesaid factual situation that the learned
Government Pleader submitted that the petitioners’ school could not
strictly be regarded as a High School. It is the further submission of the
learned Government Pleader that no posts have been sanctioned in the said
school and it is honouring the interim orders passed by this Court that the
teachers are being sent to the said school by way of working arrangement.
In the case of Government High School, Muthuvallur, as the very caption
denotes, it is a High Schoool. The avowed policy of the Government, as is
obvious from Ext.P6 G.O dated 3.6.2010 is to start Higher Secondary
Course only in high schools that too, only in those Grama Panchayaths
wherein there is no Higher Secondary Schools. G.M.U.P School,
Chullikode, which is presently running the high school section on the
strength of Exts.P4 and P5 interim orders of this Court and Government
High School, Muthuvallur are situated in the very same panchayat ie.,
Muthuvallur Panchayat. That apart, the learned Government Pleader
pointed out that there is no specific averment in the Writ Petition that
pursuant to Ext.P7 notification, the second petitioner had submitted an
W.P.(C) NO.24245/2010 5
application and based on that application no comparative assessment was
made and then the fifth respondent school was preferred in the matter of
sanctioning of Higher Secondary course. The learned counsel for the
petitioner submitted that the fact that the second petitioner has submitted
an application for sanction of the Higher Secondary Course can be inferred
from the averments in the Writ Petition. It is also submitted that it is a fact
that in response to Ext.P7 application, the second petitioner has submitted
an application for sanctioning of a Higher Secondary Course in the said
school. That apart, it is submitted that the comparative facilities and
features of both the schools have been specifically explained in the Writ
Petition. Be that as it may, the question is whether the action on the part
of the first respondent in including Government High School, Muthuvallur
in Ext.P8 select list can be said to be arbitrary and illegal warranting
interference by this Court. The facts expatiated earlier would reveal that
the status of the school represented by the petitioners as High School is, in
troth, depends upon the verdict in W.P.(C).NO.16660/2008 which now
pending before this Court. In other words, whether the said school can
retain the status of a High School depends upon the outcome of W.P.(C).
NO.16660/2008. As noticed hereinbefore, the said school as also
Government High School, Muthuvallur are situated in the very same
W.P.(C) NO.24245/2010 6
Panchayat and the avowed policy of the Government is to start higher
secondary school in a panchayat where there is no higher secondary school
at all. The learned Government Pleader submitted that there is no Higher
Secondary School in the Muthuvallur Panchayat. In view of the facts thus
obtained in this case, the mere assertion that High School, Chullikkode
viz., G.M.U.P.School, Chullikkode whose upgradation as High School was
cancelled by the Government, but functioning as High School based on
Exts.P4 and P5, is having more features and facilities than Government
High School, Muthuvallur, even if taken as correct, cannot be a reason to
interfere with the action on the part of the Government in choosing in
between the said two Government Schools and granting higher secondary
course to Government High School, Muthuvallur. When the choice was
between two Government schools and Government have chosen one of
them for granting higher secondary course, I am of the view that there is
no scope for attributing arbitrariness, malafides or favouritism. In fact, a
scanning of grounds 1 to 3 raised in this Writ Petition would reveal that
the petitioners did not have any such contention as well. In the light of the
aforementioned admitted facts, the action on the part of the Government in
choosing Government High School, Muthuvallur does not call for any
judicial review. In short, as on today, the G.M.U.P School, Chullikode
W.P.(C) NO.24245/2010 7
cannot claim the status of a Government High School. It can only
continue to run the high school section in the light of Exts.P4 and P5
interim orders. When Government took such a decision in respect of two
Government Schools and decided to start Higher secondary course in
Government High School, Muthuvallur the Parent Teacher’s Association
of the other School and the teacher-in-charge of that school cannot legally
sustain their challenge based on grounds 1 to 3 in view of the peculiar
circumstances as explained above. That apart, the learned Government
Pleader submitted that admissions to Higher Secondary Course have
already started in Government High School, Muthuvallur. For all these
reasons, I am not inclined to accept the contentions of the petitioners that
Government High School Muthuvallur was given undue preference and
that its inclusion in Ext.P8 is illegal warranting interference by this Court.
There is no merit in the Writ Petition and accordingly, it is dismissed.
(C.T. RAVIKUMAR, JUDGE)
spc
W.P.(C) NO.24245/2010 8
C.T. RAVIKUMAR, J.
W.P.(C). NO. /2010
JUDGMENT
June, 2010
W.P.(C) NO.24245/2010 9