Madras High Court
The Tamil Nadu Nursery Primary vs The Principal Secretary on 24 September, 2020
Author: N.Anand Venkatesh
Bench: N.Anand Venkatesh
WP.No.13068/2020
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED 24.09.2020
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE N.ANAND VENKATESH
WP.No.13068/2020 & WMP.Nos.16200 & 16201/2020
The Tamil Nadu Nursery Primary
Matriculation Higher Secondary
Schools Association rep.by its
State Secretary K.R.Nandakumar
Having Office at No.6, Egambaram Street
Pammal, Chennai-75. .. Petitioner
Versus
1.The Principal Secretary
Department of Transport,
Fort St George, Chennai 600 009.
2.The Principal Secretary
Department of School Education,
Fort St George, Chennai 600 009.
3.The Director of School Education,
DPI Complex, College road,
Chennai 600 006.
4.The Transport Commissioner
Chepauk, Chennai 600 005.
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WP.No.13068/2020
5.The Director of Matriculation Schools
College Road, Chennai 600 006. .. Respondents
Prayer:- Writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of
India praying for issuance of a writ of certiorari calling for the records
pertaining to the Proceedings in RC.No.039976/G1/S1/2019 dated
22.07.2019 of the 3rd respondent and the consequential letter issued by the
4th respondent in R.No.19379/2019 dated 15.10.2019 and quash the same.
For Petitioner : Mr.M.Sivavarthanan
For RR 1 &4 : Mr.K.Parameshwaran, GA
For RR 2, 3 & 5 : Mr.C.Munusamy, Spl.GP [Edn]
ORDER
(1)This writ petition has been filed challenging the proceedings of the 3 rd respondent dated 22.07.2019 and also the subsequent letter issued by the 4th respondent dated 15.10.2019.
(2)A Public Interest Litigation was filed before this Court in WP.No.14287 of 2019, wherein a direction was sought for to the authorities to ensure that CCTV Camera and GPS System is installed in all School buses. During the pendency of this writ petition, an interim order was passed by 2 http://www.judis.nic.in WP.No.13068/2020 the Division Bench on 11.07.2019, directing the Secretary to the Government, School Education Department, to take a decision and inform the Court. Accordingly, the 3rd respondent issued proceedings dated 22.07.2019 and gave the following instructions:-
I. Arrangement of CCTV Camera and Global Positioning System [GPS] should be made compulsorily in each school bus owned or hired by the school.
II. It shall be ensured by the management of the school that the CCTV Camera and GPS installed inside the school bus are kept in good working condition at all times.
III.The movement of the school bus should be closely monitored by the school management in a control room provided in the school premises.
(3)The 3rd respondent directed that the above instructions should be implemented in all the school buses.
(4)The writ petition thereafter came up for final disposal on 26.07.2019.
This Court, after taking into consideration the above proceedings of the 3rd respondent dated 22.07.2019, directed the Chief Educational Officers 3 http://www.judis.nic.in WP.No.13068/2020 across the State of Tamil Nadu to ensure the implementation of the above proceedings within a period of one month. This Court further directed a copy of the order to be marked to the Commissioner of Transport in order to issue necessary instructions in this regard.
(5)The Transport Commissioner through Letter dated 15.10.2019 informed all the Zonal Officers and the Regional Transport Officers to ensure that CCTV Camera and GPS should be made compulsory in every school bus owned or hired by the School and it is maintained in a good working condition at all times.
(6)The petitioner-Association has challenged the above proceedings of the 3rd respondent dated 22.07.2019 and also the letter issued by the 4th respondent dated 15.10.2019 on the ground that the implementation cannot be made without amendment of the relevant Rules. It is further stated that the concerned owners of the vehicles will incur heavy costs in installing CCTV Camera and GPS.
(7)Mr.C.Munusamy, learned Special Government Pleader [Edn] accepting notice on behalf of respondents 2, 3 and 5 submitted that the instructions were given for installation of the CCTV Camera and GPS in the school 4 http://www.judis.nic.in WP.No.13068/2020 buses pursuant to the directions issued by this Court and therefore, the petitioner – Association cannot challenge the proceedings and indirectly question the order passed by the Division Bench. The learned Special Government Pleader further submitted that this Court had taken into consideration the interest of the children who travel in the school bus and there is absolutely no ground to interfere with the proceedings of the 3rd respondent dated 22.07.2019.
(8)Mr.K.Parameshwaran, learned Government Advocate accepting notice on behalf of respondents 1 and 4 submitted that the Transport Commissioner has already issued instructions to all the Officers to strictly implement the orders passed by this Court in the Public Interest Litigation and they have also been informed that the installation of CCTV Camera and GPS should be checked at the time of registration, inspection for Fitness Certificate and during the course of regular enforcement work, to ensure strict compliance. The learned Government Advocate further submitted that the Transport Commissioner apart from implementing the orders passed by this Court, was well within his authority to issue such instructions.
5 http://www.judis.nic.in WP.No.13068/2020 (9)This Court has considered the submissions made on either side. (10)The Hon'ble Division Bench of this Court took into consideration various unfortunate incidents that took place in the school bus and therefore, thought it fit to direct the authorities to install CCTV Camera and GPS inside the school buses by the concerned schools so that such unfortunate incidents could be prevented. The Division Bench took into consideration the submissions made both by the school authorities as well as the authorities belonging to the Transport Department and issued directions by way of an interim order on 11.07.2019 to come up with a solution. The 3rd respondent issued proceedings dated 22.07.2019 and gave certain instructions to be followed in all the school buses that is owned or hired by the schools. This was taken note by the Division Bench and the Division Bench issued positive directions to the Chief Educational Officers in the State of Tamil Nadu to ensure implementation of the proceedings of the 3rd respondent within one month. This Court also directed the Commissioner of Transport to issue necessary instructions in this regard. The Commissioner of Transport, by letter 6 http://www.judis.nic.in WP.No.13068/2020 dated 15.10.2019 complied with the orders passed by this Court and issued necessary instructions to all the Officers belonging to the Transport Department.
(11)The petitioner – Association has challenged the proceedings of the 3rd respondent and the letter issued by the 4th respondent mainly on three grounds: [a] no opportunity was given to any of the stakeholders before the instructions were given by respondents 3 and 4 ; [b] the implementation cannot be done by way of instructions and the concerned Rules will have to be amended and only thereafter, it will get the force of law ; and [c] the stakeholders will have to incur additional expenses through installation of CCTV Camera and GPS and they were given very little time to make the installation and thereby, the owners of the vehicles have been put to undue hardship.
(12)In the considered view of this Court, none of the grounds raised by the petitioner – Association is sustainable. The hearing in the Public Interest Litigation filed before this Court was going on for a long time and it got a huge publicity since it dealt with a very important issue faced by the school children in school buses. If any of the stakeholder had anything to 7 http://www.judis.nic.in WP.No.13068/2020 say on the issue that was dealt with by the Division Bench, they should have gone before the Division Bench and put forth their claims. No one has approached the Division Bench in this regard. Respondents 3 and 4 have merely implemented the directions issued by the Division Bench in the Public Interest Litigation. If the proceedings of the 3rd respondent and the letter issued by the 4th respondent is interfered in the present writ petition, it will indirectly amount to questioning the directions issued by the Division Bench. Judicial discipline requires that a Single Judge does not indirectly question a decision taken by the Division Bench by entertaining this writ petition. If at all the petitioner – Association had any grievance with regard to the proceedings of respondents 3 and 4, they should have gone before the Division Bench and put forth their claim. (13)In view of the above discussion, this Court is not inclined to entertain this writ petition and accordingly, the same is dismissed. No costs. Consequently, the connected miscellaneous petitions are closed.
24.09.2020
Internet : Yes
AP
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WP.No.13068/2020
To
1.The Principal Secretary
Department of Transport,
Fort St George, Chennai 600 009.
2.The Principal Secretary
Department of School Education,
Fort St George, Chennai 600 009.
3.The Director of School Education,
DPI Complex, College road,
Chennai 600 006.
4.The Transport Commissioner
Chepauk, Chennai 600 005.
5.The Director of Matriculation Schools
College Road, Chennai 600 006.
9
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WP.No.13068/2020
N.ANAND VENKATESH. J
AP
WP.No.13068/2020
24.09.2020
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