Andhra Pradesh High Court - Amravati
Andhra Pradesh Private Schools ... vs The State Of Andhra Pradesh on 3 April, 2023
Author: M. Ganga Rao
Bench: M. Ganga Rao
THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE M. GANGA RAO
W.P.Nos.17758 & 17845 of 2019
COMMON ORDER:
Both these writ petitions are filed seeking a writ of Mandamus declaring the action of the respondents in restricting Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam Vidya Puraskar Awards to only Government School Students vide GOMs.No.82 dated 05.11.2019 after the merit list for the year 2018-19 is prepared and communicated in terms of guidelines issued in GOMs.No.19, School Education (General) Dated 25.02.2015 as being a hostile discrimination, violative of Articles 14, 19, 21, 21-A of the Constitution of India and against the principles of natural justice and contrary to Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 and A.P. Education Act, 1982 and for a consequential direction to the respondents to distribute the Pratibha Puraskar Awards to the students whose names are found in the select list communicated by the District Educational Officers and uploaded in Government website.
2. The facts of the two writ petitions and the issue involved in the writ petitions is one and the same. Hence, both the writ petitions were heard together and are being disposed of by this common order.
3. The 1st petitioner in WP.No.17758 of 2019 is the Andhra Pradesh Private Schools Association represented by its Secretary, East Godavari 2 MGR,J WPs_17758&17845_2019 District, whereas the petitioner 2 & 3 in the said writ petition and the writ petitioners in WP.No.17845 of 2019 claim to be the students who studied in private recognised schools and based on their merit in the SSC examination they were selected and shown in the provisional list for A.P Pratibha Awards, 2019.
4. The grievance of the petitioners is that they were selected for meritorious scholarship under the Prathiba Scholarship Awards scheme enunciated under G.O.Ms.No.19, dated 25.02.2015 modifying the earlier G.O.Ms.No.207, dated 28.06.1999. The said scheme underwent several modifications. In every Mandal, six students will be given Pratibha Awards for their highest score in Class X (the preceding academic year) one each for BC, SC, ST, one for the girl student and two for OC. The student selected for Pratibha award will be given Pratibha scholarship amount in one instalment only @ Rs.20,000/- per awardee. The scheme is applicable to both private and Government schools. The students for awarding Pratibha awards will be selected from the private and Government schools. The entire process should be completed by 11th November of every year as the said day is declared as National Education Day on the occasion of birth anniversary of Moulana Abdul Kalam Azad. Their claim is that they are selected for Pratibha awards for the year 2019. These awards shall be distributed at the District level with the participation of District Ministers/MPs & MLAs. In the function the 3 MGR,J WPs_17758&17845_2019 selected students will be given cash award along with merit certificate and a memento. But the 1st respondent Government issued the impugned GOMs.No.82 dated 05.11.2019 after the merit list is prepared and communicated in terms of guidelines issued in GOMs.No.19, dated 25.02.2015, and re-designated the Pratibha award scheme as 'Dr.A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Vidya Pursaksar Awards' and made applicable of the said award to the Government school students only and the same is not made applicable to the private educational institutions as was there earlier in GOMs.No.19, dated 25.02.2015. That is being challenged on the ground of hostile discrimination, violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India and violative of principles of natural justice and change of policy is said to be applied retrospectively, which is illegal and arbitrary. Even though the petitioners are selected for Pratibha awards and communicated with the list and when the petitioners are about to be given Pratibha wards on 11.11.2019 the impugned GO is issued on 05.11.2019. Pratibha awards were arbitrarily denied to the petitioners in view of GOMs.No.82, dated 05.11.2019.
5. The respondents filed counter stating that the State of Andhra Pradesh introduced a scheme called 'Prathiha Awards' vide GOMs.No.207 dated 28.06.1999, with an endeavour to promote quality and excellence in education. Under the scheme, meritorious students who excel in public examinations from Class VII onwards will be awarded a merit certificate, a memento and a 4 MGR,J WPs_17758&17845_2019 scholarship to the cost of higher studies. The said scheme was modified by GOMs.No.19, dated 25.02.2015. The revised scheme has made some substantial changes in the scheme as follows: In every Mandal, six students will be given Pratbiha awards for their highest score in Class X (the preceding academic year) one each for BC, SC, ST, one for the girl students and two for OC. Pratibha scholarship amount for the selected awardee will be given in one instalment only @ Rs.20,000/- per awardee as detailed below.
Sl.No. Category No.of Awards Gender Award amount
in Rs.
1 OC 2 Either boy or girl 40,000/-
2 BC 1 Either boy or girl 20,000/-
3 ST 1 Either boy or girl 20,000/
4 SC 1 Either boy or girl 20,000/
5 Girl student 1 Either OC, BC,ST 20,000/
& ST girl
Total 6 1,20,000/-
The selection list of the students shall be prepared based on the merit list furnished by the Director of Government Examinations keeping in view of the guidelines issued in GOMs.No.207, Higher Education (EC.I) Department, dated 28.06.1999 & GOMs.No.51 Education (SE Exams) Department, dated 24.08.1999. All the candidates selected for Pratibha awards shall be given (a) a cash memo for Rs.20,000/- (b) a certificate and (c) Memento. The State level 5 MGR,J WPs_17758&17845_2019 function shall be organised every year on 15th October on the eve of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Birthday. After careful re-examination of the entire matter, Government have decided to re-designate Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam Pratibha Puraskar Awards as Dr.A.P.J.Abdul Kalam Vidya Puraskar Awards for distribution of Awards from the year 2019 onwards on the occasion of birth anniversary of Moulana Abdul Kalam Azad which is being celebrated as National Education Day across the Country on 11th November. Accordingly, the scheme is re-designated as Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Vidya Puraskar Awards for distribution of awards from the year 2019 onwards on the occasion of Birth anniversary of Moulana Abdul Kalam Azad as National Education Day on 11th November. These awards shall be distributed at the District level with the participation of District Ministers/MPs & MLAs and restricting the awards to only Government school students. In the counter details of statistics with regard to the selection of students for the Pratibha award scheme for the years 2015 to 2019 were given and amount spent during that period is also given. It is a Government flagship programme being implemented by the State to promote the Government schools. The provisions of the Act 35 of 2009 and Act 1 of 1982 have been discussed in the counter and the Government has revisited the entire scheme and found that substantial percentage of the meritorious students who received this awards belong to private schools and the statistics speaks for themselves. Therefore, the Government of AP decided to strengthen the school education in 6 MGR,J WPs_17758&17845_2019 Government schools. The government after elaborate deliberations on the continuance of the Pratibha awards scheme issued the impugned GOMs.No.82, dated 05.11.2019. The scheme is designed to promote quality, excellences and aid students to pursue higher education. The scheme confers no vested rights on the student community as a whole. On the contrary, it is a benefit conferred upon the meritorious students. The new policy aims at promoting the Government schools and it is a matter of fact that Government schools are always preferred by poor and under privileged community. The petitioners have no vested right much less legitimate expectation as this falls under the ambit of Government policy.
6. Learned counsels for the petitioners would contend that as per GOMs.No.19 dated 25.02.2015 all the meritorious students at the state level who got highest marks in X class were given Pratibha awards consisting of cash memo of Rs.20,000/-, a certificate and a memento. The scheme is made applicable to both private and government schools. By way of modified scheme issued through impugned GOMs.No.82 dated 05.11.2019 making the scheme applicable only to the Government school students and depriving the students who studied in private educational institution is discriminatory and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. The petitioners were already selected for the Pratibha awards for the year 2019 and list is also published. As per the scheme when they are going to conduct function on 7 MGR,J WPs_17758&17845_2019 11.11.2019 the impugned GO Ms.No.82 is issued on 05.11.2019 changing the entire scheme and restricting the Pratibha award scheme only to the Government schools retrospectively which is violative of principles of promissory estoppel in making the Pratibha award scheme enunciated in GOMs.No.82 dated 05.11.2019 with retrospective operation is illegal. Before cancelling the earlier scheme and those who are selected are not put on notice which is violative of principles of natural justice and restricting the scheme only to the Government schools is hostile discrimination and prays to set aside the impugned GO.
7. Learned Special Government Pleader appearing for learned Additional Advocate General would contend that through impugned GOMs.No.82 dated 05.11.2019 a new Pratibha award scheme has been introduced by modifying earlier scheme given under GOMsNo.19, dated 25.02.2015. The scheme was named as Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam Vidya Puraskar award and made applicable to the Government schools only. The State Government has every right to formulate the scheme to meet the requirements of the public. The policy of the State Government does not suffer from the vires of arbitrariness. Article 14 of the Constitution of India does not confer the reasonable qualification and the qualification is based on intelligible differentia which in turn has a reasonable relation to objectives which are to be achieved by the policy. The petitioners have no vested right to ask to continue the pratibha awards 8 MGR,J WPs_17758&17845_2019 scheme formulated under GOMs.No.19, dated 19.02.2015. Hence, contra contentions are unsustainable under law. In support of his contentions, he placed reliance on a decision of the Apex Court in State of Tamilnadu v. National South Indian River Interlinking Agriculturist Association [ 2021 Law Suit (SC) 758] High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad in A.Sateesh Reddy and others v. Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies and others [2017(6) ALT 150 (DB)].
8. This court having considered the facts and circumstances of the case, submissions of the counsel and on perusal of the record found that the Government have introduced Pratibha award scheme from the year 2014 and the Pratibha award scheme as undergone several modifications year after year and various Government orders were issued such as GOMs.No.207 dated 28.06.1999 and GOMs.No.5 dated 24.08.1999. Under the scheme in every Mandal, six students will be given Pratibha awards for highest score in class X one each for BC, SC, ST and one for the girl students and two for OC. The selected students under the Pratibha awards shall be given (A) cash memo for Rs.20,000/- (b) a certificate and (C) memento. As per the statistics given the Government is spending about Rs.11,60,00,000/- every academic year. Preceding the year 2019, the percentage of students who have studied in private schools received Pratibha awards is 53% and 54% for the academic years 2018-2017 respectively. More than 50% of the awards are being backed 9 MGR,J WPs_17758&17845_2019 by the private students every year. The noble vision behind the implementation of the scheme as seen from its inception was to promote quality, excellence and support the cost of their higher education belonging to poor and under privileged community in the State. The State Government has already introduced several schemes in furtherance of its vision in promoting school education in the State such as Jagananna Vidya Kanuka, Mana Badi, Nadu Nedu, Jagananna Goru Mudda and such schemes are supported by huge budget amounting to Rs.656 Crores, 3000 Crores, 1628 Crores respectively. By issuing modified GO Pratibha awards scheme was renamed as Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam Vidya Puraskar awards restricting it only to the students studying in Government schools. The Government have every right to frame policies to elevate people belonging to poor and under privileged communities in the societies. It is a policy decision of the Government. The petitioners have no vested right to ask the Government to continue the old policy of Pratibha awards scheme envisaged in GOMS.No.19 dated 25.02.2015. When the formulation of the new scheme through the impugned GOMs.No.82 dated 05.11.2019 has not infringed any vested rights of the petitioners and it has not violated any statutory provisions and constitutional provisions, interference of this court for implementation of the scheme is unjustified. The impugned policy does not suffer from any arbitrariness. Application of the Pratibha award scheme only to the Government school students and depriving the private school students, 10 MGR,J WPs_17758&17845_2019 which is a reasonable classification based on intelligible differentia, does not amount to violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. As rightly contended by learned Special Government Pleader, the competition should be equals and not between equals and unequals. Therefore, the classification is permissible. As long as there is a reasonable nexus between the basis of classification and the object sought to be achieved, the classification is valid. Provisions of Article 14 of the Constitution of India does not prohibit reasonable classification. Mere selection of the petitioners for Pratibha awards under the scheme formulated under GOMS.No.19, dated 25.02.2015, when the awards are going to be distributed in the public function held on 11.11.2019 the impugned GO is issued on 05.11.2019 modifying the earlier Pratibha award scheme does not confer any statutory right on them to receive Pratibha awards as per the earlier scheme issued in GOMs.No.19. The Government have introduced the new Pratibha award scheme viz., APJ Abdul Kalam Vidya Puraskar awards modifying the earlier GOs through impugned GOMs.No.82 dated 05.11.2019 and not awarding the merit certificate and cash memo of Rs.20,000/- and a memento to the petitioners in view of changed scheme does not amount to violation of promissory estoppel and hostile discrimination as the new pratibha award scheme viz., APJ Abdul Kalam Vidya Puraskar awards modifying the earlier scheme issued in GOMs.No.19 is only a policy decision of the Government. No interference of this Court is warranted.
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MGR,J WPs_17758&17845_2019
9. Accordingly, both the Writ Petitions are dismissed. No order as to Costs.
As a sequel, pending miscellaneous applications, if any, shall stand closed.
__________________ M.GANGA RAO, J 03.04.2023 Vjl 12 MGR,J WPs_17758&17845_2019 THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE M. GANGA RAO W.P.Nos.17758 & 17845 of 2019 03.04.2023 Vjl