Gujarat High Court
Kalpesh Rameshchandra Vyas vs Bvd Primary And Secondary Highschool & ... on 19 September, 2014
Author: J.B.Pardiwala
Bench: Akil Kureshi, J.B.Pardiwala
C/WPPIL/162/2011 ORDER
IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
WRIT PETITION (PIL) NO. 162 of 2011
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KALPESH RAMESHCHANDRA VYAS....Applicant(s)
Versus
BVD PRIMARY AND SECONDARY HIGHSCHOOL & 4....Opponent(s)
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Appearance:
MR PADMRAJ K JADEJA, ADVOCATE for the Applicant(s) No. 1
MR. UTKARSH SHARMA, ASSTT.GOVERNMENT PLEADER for the Opponent(s) No. 3 - 4
MR AD OZA, ADVOCATE for the Opponent(s) No. 5
MR ANKIT SHAH, ADVOCATE for the Opponent(s) No. 1
MR HIMANSHU K PATEL, ADVOCATE for the Opponent(s) No. 2
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CORAM: HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE AKIL KURESHI
and
HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE J.B.PARDIWALA
Date : 19/09/2014
ORAL ORDER
(PER : HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE J.B.PARDIWALA) By this writ-application in the nature of a public interest litigation, the petitioner, a resident of Ghodasar, Ahmedabad, has a serious grievance to redress as regards the structural stability and other infrastructural facilities of a school, named "BVD Primary and Secondary High School" situated at Ghodasar. The petitioner has prayed for a writ of mandamus on the respondent No.2, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, to take necessary action against the school for not obtaining Building Use Permission, and flouting other norms like fire-safety etc. The petitioner also prays for a mandamus on the respondent No.3, the Principal Secretary, Education Department to cancel the registration/permission granted in favour of the school. The petitioner further prays Page 1 of 8 C/WPPIL/162/2011 ORDER that the students studying in the school be accommodated in any other school nearby the location of the school in question.
2. The case of the petitioner is that earlier the school had permission to construct ground floor plus a first floor. Thereafter, without any valid permission or sanction of the plans, three more floors have been constructed and the staircase is too narrow. According to the petitioner, the school is lacking in infrastructural facilities like play-ground, toilets, parking and other basic amenities. It is also the case of the petitioner that there is no adequate fire fighting system installed in the premises of the school. He has also pointed out that there is no adequate space for parking of the vehicles, as a result, the traffic gets jammed outside the school premises.
3. Notices were issued to the respondents, and in response to such notice, the respondents have appeared and filed their respective replies. It appears from the affidavit-in-reply filed by the school that the school was constructed almost two and a half decades back. According to them, they do possess the building stability certificate. It is their case that the additional construction was put up with the permission of the Ghodasar Panchayat. The Education Department had verified the facilities provided to the students in the school. It is also their case that more than 2000 students are studying as on today in the school and the result for Standard X and XII was above 90%, and thus, according to the respondent No.1 school, this petition is devoid of any merit and deserves to be rejected. It is also the case of the respondent No.1 school that they had applied for regularization of the construction under the Gujarat Page 2 of 8 C/WPPIL/162/2011 ORDER Regularization of Unauthorized Development Act, 2011. However, the application was rejected by the authority, against such order, appeal was filed and the appellate authority has remitted the matter to the original authority for fresh consideration. Therefore, as on today, the issue as regards regularization of the unauthorized construction is pending with the competent authority.
4. We have also gone through the affidavit-in-reply filed by the respondent No.3, the District Education Officer. The affidavit of the District Education Officer is a bit disturbing. It has been stated in the affidavit-in-reply that on inspection various lapses and non-adherence to the provisions of the Gujarat Secondary Education Regulation, 1974 were noticed. The school premises was inspected and a report in that regard was prepared, and a copy of the same was sent to the Principal of the school in the year 2011 for due compliance. According to the respondent No.3, the school has violated the provisions of Rules 9(13)(1), (3) and (4), 12(B), 20(3), 27(4)(2) and 38(1)
(c) of the Rules. It has also been stated that the school is not having any Building Use Permission and in all 2,233 students are studying. It has further been stated that there are two narrow staircases in the school, and only 20 urinals and 5 toilets, which are insufficient considering that there are more than 2000 students studying in the school. According to the District Education Officer, the play-ground is also not sufficient in a school wherein more than 2000 students are studying, as according to the Regulation, for a school having 250 students, it is mandatory to have a play-ground of a minimum size of one acre. However, the school does not have a play-ground of even one acre. It also appears from the affidavit-in-reply that Page 3 of 8 C/WPPIL/162/2011 ORDER a show cause notice was issued upon the school, highlighting the deficiencies which were noticed at the time of the inspection.
5. Thus, from the stance of the respondent No.3, the District Education Officer, it appears that many deficiencies and shortcomings have been noticed so far as the building of the school is concerned, including other infrastructural facilities and amenities.
6. Having heard the learned counsel appearing for the parties and having gone through the materials on record, the only question that falls for our consideration in this petition is whether the petitioner is entitled to any of the reliefs as prayed for in the writ-petition.
7. We do accept that there appears to be some unauthorized construction in the school premises. There is no escape to the fact that there are various other deficiencies have also been noticed. However, at the same time, we should also not overlook the fact that the school is two decades old and there are more than 2,000 students studying as on today. Therefore, the principal relief prayed for by the petitioner that the authorities should be directed to close the school and accommodate all students to any other nearby school deserves to be outright rejected.
8. The petitioner, claiming to be a public spirited citizen has no doubt brought to our notice the poor condition of the school, but at the same time, even his attempt should be to Page 4 of 8 C/WPPIL/162/2011 ORDER see that the infrastructural facilities in this school improves and the safety of the students is not put to any jeopardy in any manner, instead of asking the authorities to cancel the permission.
9. We are of the opinion that in such type of cases, the safety of the students should be of a paramount consideration. There should not be any compromise in that regard. We have noticed two disturbing features of the school. First, according to the report, the school has only two narrow staircases, and secondly, there are no sufficient toilets and urinals, atleast considering that there are more than 2,000 students studying in this school. We are of the view that the first priority should be given so far as the issue of two narrow staircases is concerned, including the fire fighting measures, which, according to the school, they have provided.
10. We propose to dispose of this petition by issuing the following directions:-
(a) The authorities of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation is directed to undertake inspection of the two narrow staircases provided in the school building, and ascertain whether any modifications in that regard are required, or not.
We are saying so because in the event of any untoward incident occurring in the school, like fire, when students may have to run helter and skelter, two narrow staircases may prove to be disastrous.
Page 5 of 8C/WPPIL/162/2011 ORDER The school must have sufficient open passages through which the students and other persons can get out of the building. Therefore, the authorities of the Corporation should immediately inspect the two narrow staircases and make necessary recommendations to the school in that regard. No sooner had the authorities recommend, than the school authorities shall immediately act upon such recommendations and do the needful in that regard.
(b) The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation shall also inspect the fire safety equipments installed in the school. The authority should inspect whether the fire fighting equipments are in good condition and functioning. Although in this regard, Mr. Thakore, the learned senior counsel appearing for the school submitted that the school has provided adequate fire fighting equipments and in that regard the Corporation has also issued a No Objection Certificate, still we want the authority to once again inspect the same, and if any deficiencies are noticed in such fire fighting facilities, then the same should be corrected by the school management at the earliest.
(c) We also direct the authorities of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation to examine the structural stability of the school building, and if any deficiencies are found in that regard, then the same shall be immediately brought to the notice of the management of the school, and the management of Page 6 of 8 C/WPPIL/162/2011 ORDER the school shall in turn take care of the same.
(d) We direct the respondent No.5, Gujarat Secondary Education Board, to look into various other deficiencies and shortcomings pointed out by the District Education Officer in his reply at page 145 of the paper-book, including the contents of the show cause notice dated 2nd April, 2013, issued by the District Education Officer. The Board shall ensure that all mandatory requirements in that regard are complied with. The school be directed to strictly comply with the Regulations and see that proper urinals, toilets and other facilities are provided in the interest of the students.
11. We expect the authorities of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and the respondent Board to act promptly and see to it that the inspection is undertaken within a week from today, and all necessary steps in that regard are taken within two weeks thereafter.
12. We are not touching the issue so far as regularization of unauthorized construction is concerned, since this issue is at large before the competent authority under the Gujarat Regularization of Unauthorized Development Act, 2011. We express no opinion in that regard. It will be for the competent authority to decide whether the construction is to be regularized or not.
13. With the above observations and directions, we close this public interest litigation and dispose of the petition.
Page 7 of 8 C/WPPIL/162/2011 ORDER
(AKIL KURESHI, J.)
(J.B.PARDIWALA, J.)
Mohandas
Page 8 of 8