Court No. - 32
Case :- WRIT - C No. - 33760 of 2021 Petitioner :- Shankar Singh Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 3 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Prabhakar Awasthi,Mahesh Kumar Sahu Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.,Deepak Kumar
Hon'ble Mrs. Manju Rani Chauhan,J.
Heard Mr. Prabhakar Awasthi, learned counsel for the petitioner, Mr.
G.K. Singh, learned Senior Advocate assisted by Mr. Deepak Kumar, learned counsel for respondent nos. 3 and 4 and the learned Standing Counsel for the State-respondents.
Learned counsel for the parties agree that the present writ petition may be disposed of at this stage without calling for any further affidavits specially in view of the order proposed to be passed today, as no useful purpose would be served by keeping the petition pending.
The present writ petition has been filed by the petitioner assailing the order dated 23rd November, 2021 passed by the District Inspector of Schools, Fatehpur (respondent no.2), whereby the petitioner has been removed from the post of Manager of the college in question, on the basis of "no confidence motion". Further, the petitioner has prayed for a direction upon the District Inspector of Schools, Fatehpur not to interfere in the peaceful functioning of the petitioner and also not to proceed for holding of elections of new manager after passing of the impugned order.
Brief facts of the case, which are relevant for deciding the present writ petition, are that the college in question in the name and style of "Sankatha Prasad Intermediate College, Mawai, Ganeshpur, Fatehpur" is a recognized intermediate college, which is run and managed by a duly elected Committee of Management in terms of an scheme of administration. The said scheme of administration is also approved in accordance with the provisions of Section 16-A of the U.P. Intermediate Education Act, 1921. The said college upto the Junior High School is also in grant-in-aid list of the State Government, therefore, the U.P. Recognized Junior High Schools (Payment of Salaries to Teachers and Other Staff) Act, 1978 is fully applicable to the said College.
Clause-16 of the approved scheme of administration deals with the procedure, which has to be followed in the matter of carrying out the proceedings of "no confidence motion" against any members or office bearers of the Committee of Management.
Sub-clause (1) of Clause-16 of the aforesaid scheme enunciates that according to the rules, if any office bearer or member wants to move a "no-confidence motion" against any other office bearer or member, then a written application will be sent to the District Inspector of Schools for his prior approval. No "no-confidence motion" will be valid without the prior approval of the District Inspector of Schools.
Sub-clause (2) of Clause-16 provides that after obtaining the prior approval of the District Inspector of Schools, the President or the Manager shall convene the meeting of the general body after giving seven days registered notice to all members or office bearers for considering the "motion of no confidence" in the said meeting of the general body.
Sub-clause (6) of Clause-16 enunciates that any education officer appointed by the District Inspector of Schools must be present in the meeting of the general body, as an Observer and he will monitor as to whether the proceedings of "no confidence motion" are being carried out in accordance with law or not.
Sub-clause (9) of Clause-16 provides that voting of "no-confidence motion" shall be done by secret ballots. Every member shall cast his/her vote on a blank paper signed by the District Inspector of Schools or his representative along his with seal.
Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the last valid elections of the Committee of Management of the said college was held on 1st September, 2020 in accordance with the aforesaid approved scheme of administration, in which the petitioner was elected as the Manager and one Jay Bahadur Singh was elected as the President of the Committee of Management of the said college. He further submits that the said elections were also approved by the District Inspector of Schools on 3rd September, 2020. During the sustenance of the term of the said Committee of Management, the President submitted an application on 2nd November, 2021 before the District Inspector of Schools seeking prior permission for carrying out the proceedings of "no confidence motion" against the petitioner as Manager. In response to the aforesaid letter, the District Inspector of Schools has sent a letter dated 9th November, 2021 to the President fixing 23rd November, 2021 for hearing and the President inturn sent the notice/information to all the members of the general body including the petitioner. Learned counsel for the petitioner referring to the letter of the District Inspector of Schools dated 9th November, 2021, submits that affidavits of few members of the general body were also placed before the District Inspector of Schools along with letter of the President dated 2nd November, 2021. On receipt of the aforesaid notice sent by the President, in pursuance of the letter of the District Inspector of Schools dated 9th November, 2021, the petitioner on 23rd November, 2021 moved an application through his son requesting the District Inspector of Schools to fix some other date in the matter, as he needs time to obtain list of valid members of the general body from the office of the Assistant Registrar, Firms, Societies and Chits and also on the ground that he was not well on the said date. Surprisingly without undertaking any further exercise, the impugned order dated 23rd November, 2021 has been passed by the District Inspector of Schools.
Learned counsel for the petitioner has challenged the impugned order dated 23rd November, 2021 basically on two grounds:
(i) the same has been passed without affording any opportunity of hearing to the petitioner, which is in violation of principles of natural justice and hits Article 14 of the Constitution of India, and
(ii) the procedure, as provided under the aforesaid scheme of administration for carrying out the proceedings of "no confidence motion" has not been followed.
On the other-hand learned counsel for the respondent nos. 3 and 4 and the learned Standing Counsel for the State-respondents submit that in the aforesaid meeting of the general body, out of 48 members of the general body, total 36 members have cast their votes against the petitioner for his removal from the post of manager on the basis of "no confidence motion". They further submit that pursuant to the impugned order dated 23rd November, 2021, respondent no.4 i.e. Rajesh Kumar Singh has already been elected as the Manager on 5th December, 2021. However, with respect to the fact that the voting for "no confidence motion" against the petitioner has not been carried out through secret ballots nor other procedure, as provided under the aforesaid scheme of administration, has been followed in carrying out the proceedings of "no confidence motion" against the petitioner, learned counsel for the respondents could not dispute the same.
In view of the aforesaid submissions made by the learned counsel for the parties, perusing the material available on record and with the consent of all the parties, the order impugned passed by the District Inspector of Schools dated 23rd November, 2021 is quashed, as the same cannot be legally sustained in the eyes of law. Respondent no.2 i.e. District Inspector of Schools is directed to send registered 7 days' notice to all the members or office bearers of approved list of the general body of the aforesaid college fixing 11th January, 2022 as date for casting their votes through secret ballots for carrying out the "no confidence motion" called on the letter of the President dated 2nd November, 2021, which is said to be supported by affidavits of few members of the general body. After the aforesaid proceedings, respondent no.2 i.e. District Inspector of Schools shall take appropriate decision, by means of a reasoned and speaking order, in accordance with law.
The present writ petition is allowed subject to the observations made herein above.
A certified copy of this order shall be given to the learned Standing Counsel by Monday i.e. 20th December, 2021, who shall transmit the same immediately to respondent no.2 i.e. District Inspector of Schools, Fatehpur for necessary compliance.
(Manju Rani Chauhan, J.) Order Date :- 17.12.2021 Sushil/-