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Sant Dnyaneshwar Shikshan Sanstha v. The State of Maharashtra

Civil Appeal · 2019 INSC 310Decided 5 Mar 2019
Civil Appeal No. 9384 of 2014
Justice Uday Umesh Lalit · Justice Dinesh Maheshwari

Background

A government-run residential "Ashram Shala" for backward-class students in Jalgaon district was derecognized in 2010 over infrastructure deficiencies, and in 2012 the State handed over its recognition to a different society, Sant Dnyaneshwar Shikshan Sanstha, to run a new school 400 km away. Employees who had been absorbed into other schools challenged this transfer, and the Bombay High Court quashed the 2012 resolution, holding that a school's recognition is not a transferable business licence and that the transfer process lacked transparency. Both the new society and the State appealed to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court upheld the High Court, agreeing that treating recognition of a derecognized school as something that could simply be reassigned to another entity 400 km away (far beyond the 10 km norm under the relevant government policy) was improper and lacked due process. However, to avoid disrupting the education of about 120 students already enrolled, the Court allowed the transferee's school to continue only until the 2019-2020 academic session, after which it must close. It directed the State to invite fresh, transparent proposals for running the original school, treated the affected employees' service as continuous throughout, and ordered payment of their arrears with 25% back-wages for the non-working period.

Lesson Learnt

A school's government recognition is a public trust, not a business licence that can be informally reassigned by executive fiat: any change in management of an aided school requires a transparent, published process inviting applications and objections, as laid down in prior High Court guidelines that the government itself is bound to follow.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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