JUDGMENT
G.C. Bharuka, J.
1. The present writ application has been filed by the petitioners for issuance of a writ of mandamus directing the respondents to take over the school of the petitioners under the provisions of Bihar Non-Government Elementary Schools (Taking over of Control) Act, 1976 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Act’) and give all consequential benefits to the petitioners. Prayer is also for quashing of the order as contained in Memo No. 170 dated 30th January, 1988 issued by respondent No. 2, the Special Secretary, Department of Education, by which he had rejected the aforesaid prayer of the petitioners.
2. The petitioners’ claim to be the teachers of the school known as Adarsh Prathmic Vidyalay Agga Hussain Ka Chauraha, Patna City. The Petitioners’ also claim that they are getting monthly dearness allowances granted by the District Education Officer since 1-1-1971 and so in this view of the matter their school falls in the category of aided schools. It is further said that the District Committee had recommended to the Government for taking over of the school and therefore, the Government is bound to take over the same and grant consequential benefits to the petitioners.
3. Section 3(4) reads as under:
3(4)(a). With regard to the taking over of elementary schools other than those mentioned in Sections 1 and 3 there shall be a District Committee in each district which shall examine the feasibility of taking over of the such school by the State Government and which shall consist of the following members:
(i) Deputy Development Commissioner/Administrator District Board-Chairman.
(ii) District Superintendent of Education-Secretary. Members
(iii) District Education officer,
(iv) District Inspector of Schools,
(v) Sub-divisional Educational Officer of the concerned subdivision, and
(vi) Deputy Inspector of Schools concerned.
(b) The State Government may from time to time make changes in the personnel of the District Committee so constituted.
A bare reading of the aforesaid provisions shows that the first step to be taken in the process of taking over of the school under the provisions of the Act is that the District Committee has to examine the feasibility of taking over of such schools by the State Government. The examination of feasibility of taking over of the schools necessarily involves an application of mind with reference to all the necessary information’s the relevant documents and other materials pertaining to the school. It is so necessary because taking over of the school by the State Government involves financial implications and it is bound to lead to extra financial burden on the State Exchequer. Such decisions cannot be arrived at by the statutory authorities in a casual manner. If the proceedings show that the statutory bodies like the District Committees have arrived at the decision without applying themselves effectively, then such decisions or recommendation can be held to be a nullity in law as suffering from the vice of non-application of mind.
4. Now coming to the facts of the present case, the petitioners have based their claim on the resolution dated 20-1-1982 of the District Committee of Patna District wherein he has been said though a decision was taken to inspect the schools but the Committee could not make any such inspection. Therefore, the Committee decided to recommend to the Government for nationalisation of large number of schools including that of the petitioners, on the basis of the available materials. This resolution does not fulfil the requirement of Section 3(4)(a) of the Act. The Government can be directed to take over the school under the Act only if the District Committee examines the feasibility to taking over of such schools in the sense I have stated above. A casual recommendation without adverting itself to the necessary materials on records cannot be a substitute for an affective decision concerning feasibility of taking over of schools.
5. In this view of the matter the resolution of the District Committee dated 20-1-1982 (Annexure 3) is of no avail to the petitioners. Since the condition precedent for taking over of the school of the petitioners contemplated under the Act has not been fulfilled, therefore, none of the prayers made by the petitioners can be allowed. The writ application is accordingly dismissed. There will be no order as to cost.