Allahabad High Court
Committee Of Management, Kishan, Inter ... vs State Of U.P. And Ors. on 3 December, 2004
Equivalent citations: 2005(1)ESC245
Author: Arun Tandon
Bench: Arun Tandon
JUDGMENT Arun Tandon, J.
1. Heard Sri Irshad Ali on behalf of the petitioner, Sri Anil Bhushan on behalf of Respondent No. 5 and learned Standing Counsel on behalf of Respondent Nos. 1 to 4.
2. Sri Anil Bhushan, Counsel for the Respondent No. 5 and Standing Counsel are agree that the writ petition may be disposed of at this stage without calling for a counter-affidavit.
3. Kishan Inter College, Deohadi Wajidpur, District J.P. Nagar is an institution recognised under the provisions of Intermediate Education Act. The said institution run and managed in accordance with the approved scheme of administration.
4. The dispute between the parties with regards to the Committee of Management entitled to manage the institution on the basis of the elections pleaded, was subject matter of consideration before this Court in Writ Petition No. 45055 of 2003. This Court vide judgment and order dated 12th April, 2004 quashed the order dated 22.9.2003, whereby the elections set up by Respondent No. 5 namely, Chandra Pal Singh were accepted to be legal and valid. The Hon'ble High Court thereafter, remanded the matter for decision afresh to the Regional Level Committee. The Regional Level Committee, in compliance of the order passed by this Court, has again approved the elections as set up by the Respondent No. 5 namely Chandra Pal Singh dated 1.5.2003 by means of the impugned order dated 10.11.2004. The consequential order passed by the District Inspector of Schools dated 20.11.2004 is also under challenge.
5. On behalf of the petitioner it is contended that the aforesaid order has been passed without affording full and fair opportunity to the petitioner and, therefore, is liable to be set aside.
6. On behalf of the respondent it is contended that repeatedly opportunity of hearing was afforded to the petitioner, but he fall to avail the same. Therefore, the petitioner cannot be permitted to raise an objection on the ground of violation of principles of natural justice.
7. I have heard Counsel for the parties and have gone through the records of the writ petition.
8. For the purposes of appreciating the controversy as to whether the petitioner has been afforded full and fair opportunity of hearing, it would be relevant to refer to last but one paragraph of the order of Regional Level Committee dated 30.10.2004, as has been enclosed along with the writ petition vide Annexure-19, which read as follows :
^^---------fnukad 4&10&2004 dks vfUre lquokbZ ds fnu ;fn Jh lejiky falg ds dFkukuqlkj ,DlhMsUV gks x;k Fkk rks mud }kjk vf/kÑr izfrfuf/k Jh cychj flag mifLFkr gks ldrs Fks A ijUrq ,slk ugha fd;k A vr% i=koyh esa miyC/k 'kiFk&i=ksa dh QksVks dkfi;ksa dh leh{kk dh x;h ftlesa 'kiFk&i= ij fnukad 31&5&2003 vafdr gS ;fn mä pkjksa lnL;ksa Jh dYyw flag] Jh c;ku flag] Jh ;ksxsUnz falag ,oa Jh t;iky flag dks fnukad 1&5&2003 ds pquko lEcU/k esa dksbZ vkifÙk Fkh rks mUgsa mlh fnu ;k ,d lIrkg ds Hkhrj ihBklhu vf/kdkjh vFkok ftyk fo|ky; fujh{kd] ts- ih- uxj ,oa e.My dk;kZy; dks lwpuk nsuh pkfg;s Fkh A ,d ekg ckn 'kiFk&i= dh Nk;k izfr izLrqr djus dk dksbZ vkSfpR; ugha Fkk A**
9. In the opinion of the Court, if one of the party to the dispute has met with an accident and prays for adjournment, the Regional Level Committee should have considered the applications sympathetically and should have granted adjournment if the allegation of the party having met with an accident is true. Since there is no mention in the impugned order about the fact mentioned in the application being incorrect, there is no reason to disbelieve that Sri Samar Pal Singh had met with an accident and, therefore, he was unable to appear before the Regional Level Committee on the date of hearing. The Court is satisfied that there has been denial of full and fair opportunity of hearing to the petitioner before passing the impugned order. It is settled law that opportunity of hearing is not an empty formality. The parties must be afforded full and effective hearing before any decision adverse to the party concerned is taken.
10. In such circumstances, the order passed by the Regional Level Committee dated 30th October, 2004, as incorporated in the letter of the Regional Level Committee dated 10.11.2004, cannot be sustained, having been passed in violation of the principles of natural justice and is hereby quashed. The matter is remanded to the Regional Level Committee to decide the dispute afresh strictly in accordance with the directions contained in the judgment and order dated 12.4.2004 passed in Writ Petition No. 45055 of 2003, preferably within one month from the date a certified copy of this order is produced as under.
11. The parties agree that they shall remain present with the certified copy of this order before the Regional Joint Director of Education on 14th December, 2004. The Regional Joint Director of Education shall, thereafter, fix a date for hearing in the matter before the Regional Level Committee in the presence of the parties.
12. Since the order dated 30.10.2004 passed by the Regional Level Committee has been quashed by this Court, the consequential order dated 20.11.2004, passed by the District Inspector of Schools also not survive and is quashed.
13. In view of the above, writ petition stands disposed