Calcutta High Court (Appellete Side)
For The vs West Bengal Board Of Secondary ... on 25 August, 2011
Author: Jyotirmay Bhattacharya
Bench: Jyotirmay Bhattacharya
25.8.11
W. P. No. 24651 (W) of 2010
Mr. Golam Mastafa,
Mr. Kaushik Bhattacharya,
Mr. Tara Sankar Samanta
.. For the Petitioner.
Mr. Tulsidas Maity
.. For the Respondent Nos. 5 & 6.
Mr. Kanai Lal Samanta .. For the Respondent No. 7.
Mr. Mintu Goswami .. For the State.
The Managing Committee of Prajabarh Kiranbala Balika Vidyalaya (H.S.) in the district of East Medinipur was superseded by an order dated 26th November, 2008 passed by the President of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education under section 28(2) of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education Act. An Administrator was also appointed in the said school by the President of the Board by the said order. The said order is under challenge in this writ petition at the instance of the members of the Managing Committee of the said school.
The impugned order has been disclosed by the petitioners in their supplementary affidavit affirmed by one Gour Chandra Adhikary on 19th January, 2011. On perusal of the impugned order, this court finds that the President of the Board superseded the Managing Committee of the said school in exercise of his emergency power under section 28(2) of the said Act. The said power was exercised by the President of the Board after taking into consideration the report of the District Inspector of Schools (S.E.), East Medinipur dated 1st November, 2010 and the recommendation of the Director of School Education, West Bengal dated 16th November, 2010.
After considering the said report of the concerned District Inspector of Schools and the Director of School Education, the President of the Board superseded the Managing Committee of the said school in exercise of his emergency power for two-fold reasons which are as follows:
(i) Though the Managing Committee has not lost its validity but the same has become defunct for want of minimum number of members; and
(ii) The Secretary of the Managing Committee is allegedly involved in defalcation of Government money for which Drawing and Disbursing Officer has been functioning.
While taking the decision for superseding the Managing Committee of the said school, the President of the Board simply relied upon the report of the concerned District Inspector of Schools without making any effort to arrive at his conclusion as to the necessity of superseding the Managing Committee of the said school. He has also not come to a definite finding that the Secretary of the Managing Committee of the said school was involved in defalcation of Government money.
Even the Managing Committee of the said school was superseded without following the provisions contained in Rule 8 of the Management Rules. Rule 8 of the Management Rules provides that a Managing Committee of a school can be superseded when two pre-conditions as contemplated under Rule 8 of the Management Rules are satisfied. These two conditions are as follows:
(i) There must be a report as regards
mismanagement of the affairs of the school; and
(ii) Compliance of the principles of natural justice.
A question as to whether the President of the Board in exercise of his jurisdiction under section 28(2) of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education Act can supersede the Managing Committee of a school without following the provisions contained in Rule 8 of the Management Rules, was considered by the Division Bench of this Hon'ble court in the case of Panchanan Mondal and others vs. West Bengal Board of Secondary Education and others reported in A.I.R. 1996 Calcutta 240, wherein it was held as follows :
"Keeping in view of the fact that the President of the Board exercising his jurisdiction under Section 28(2) of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education Act and Rule 8 of the Management Rules is required to comply with two conditions precedent, therefore, namely, the report as regards mismanagement of the affairs of the school and compliance of the principle of natural justice and as in the instant case admittedly both the aforementioned conditions precedent have not been fulfilled, the impugned order cannot be sustained."
In the instant case, admittedly opportunity of hearing was not given to the members of the Managing Committee before superseding the Managing Committee of the said school. Even the copy of the report submitted by the District Inspector of Schools and copy of the recommendation made by the Director of Schools Education, relying on which the Managing Committee was superseded, were not supplied to the petitioner. No opportunity to controvert these reports was given to the petitioner at any point of time. Thus, the Managing Committee of the school was superseded by the President of the Board without following the mandate contained in Rule 8 of the Management Rules.
This court, thus, by following the aforesaid Division Bench decision of this Hon'ble court, holds that the impugned order cannot be retained on record. The impugned order of supersession of the Managing Committee of the said school and appointment of the Administrator therein is, thus, set aside.
It is, however, made clear that in the event the President of the Board feels the necessity of superseding the Managing Committee of the said school, he may do so by following the provisions contained in Rule 8 of the Management Rules. In the event such proceeding is initiated, notice of hearing may be given to the petitioners and/or their learned advocate on record. If, however, the President of the Board ultimately decides not to exercise his emergency power for superseding the Managing Committee of the said school, such decision should be communicated to the school authority.
Since the allegation of defalcation has been made against the Secretary of the said school, the concerned District Inspector of Schools is appointed as the Drawing and Disbursing Officer in the said school and he will continue to act as such until the ultimate decision is taken by the President of the Board in either way.
The writ petition, thus, stands disposed of.
Urgent xerox certified copy of this order, if applied for, be supplied to the learned advocates for all the parties as early as possible.
(Jyotirmay Bhattacharya, J.)