PETITIONER:
COMMISSIONER, LUCKNOW DIVISION AND ORS.
Vs.
RESPONDENT:
KUMARI PREM LATA MISRA
DATE OF JUDGMENT26/10/1976
BENCH:
GUPTA, A.C.
CHANDRACHUD, Y.V.
GOSWAMI, P.K.
CITATION:
1977 AIR 334 1977 SCR (1) 957
1976 SCC (4) 486
ACT
U.P. Intermediate Education Act, 1921,--Whether the
basic section of a college is within the scope of.
HEADNOTE
The respondent, an assistant teacher in the basic sec-
tion of the Colvin Taluqdar’s college, Lucknow, was suspend-
ed and then removed from service, by the managing committee
of the college. She flied a writ petition in the High Court
challenging her dismissal order, contending that it violated
the regulations framed under the (U.P.) Intermediate Educa-
tion Act, 1921. The appellants contended that the col-
lege was running the basic Section independently and
without any affiliation or grants from the Government or
any local body, and that the said Act did not apply.
The Single Judge of the High Court dismissed the Writ
petition as none of the opposite parties was a public au-
thority. An appeal was allowed by a Division Bench of the
High Court on the ground that the basic Section was an
integral part of the college and was run by a Managing
Committee constituted under the Intermediate Education Act.
Allowing the appeal the Court,
HELD: The provisions of the Act relate to recognized
institutions; recognition is by the Board for the purpose of
preparing candidates for admission to the Board’s examina-
tion; Board means the Board of High School and lntermedi-
ate Education. The basic section of a college cannot there-
fore be part of a recognised institution. It is not correct
to think that since Section 16A of the Act requires a
college to have a committee of management, a managing
committee that looks after the affairs of the basic section
of the college must also be functioning as a statutory body
discharging duties under the Act and governed by the regula-
tions framed thereunder. An institution by extending its
operation to fields beyond that covered by the Act cannot
extend the ambit of the Act to include in its sweep, these
new fields of education which are. outside its scope. [959
C-G]
JUDGMENT
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 343 of 1974.
(Appeal by special leave from the Judgment and Order
dated 11-9-1973 of the Allahabad High Court (Lucknow
Bench) in Spl. Appeal No. 118/71).
D. Mukherjee and C.P. Lal for the appellant.
Akhtar Hussain, S.N. Prasad and D.N. Misra, for the
respondent
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
GUPTA, J.--Colvin Taluqdars’ College in Lucknow, run by
a society registered under the Societies Registration Act,
imparts education at the following different stages:
(i) Pre-basic i.e., nursery classes.
(ii) Junior basic, called primary stage, from class I to V.
(iii) Senior basic i.e., Junior high school stage from
class VI to VIII, and
958
(iv) Higher secondary stage, called high school stage-
classes IX and X.
(b) Intermediate stage--Classes XI and XII
In the beginning the college had no pre-basic or junior
basic classes and started with class VI; classes I to V and
nursery classes were opened later. The respondent was
appointed an assistant teacher in the basic section of the
college in 1961. Following certain incidents involving
her, she was suspended on or about August 20, 1970. and
ultimately her services were terminated by the managing
committee of the college some time in October 1970. She
flied a writ petition in the High Court at Allahabad (Luc-
know Bench) alleging inter alia that the order terminating
her services was mala fide and made in violation of the
regulations framed under the (U.P.) Intermediate Education
Act, 1921. She asked for a writ of certiorari quashing the
order of suspension and the order terminating her services,
and a writ of mandamus directing the opposite parties to pay
the full salary and emoluments due to her. The president
of the managing committee of the college, the principal, the
head mistress of the basic section and the committee of
management were impleaded as opposite parties 1, 2, 3, and 4
respectively. The writ petition was dismissed by a
single Judge of the High Court on a preliminary ground that
none of the opposite parties was a public authority and the
impugned orders suspending her and terminating her services
were not made in the exercise of any statutory function.
On appeal a Division Bench of the High Court took the view
that the basic section of the college was an integral part
of the college and held that the managing committee of the
college was a statutory body constituted under the Interme-
diate Education Act and governed by the regulations framed
thereunder. The Division Bench therefore found the writ
petition maintainable and remanded the case to the single
Judge to be decided on merits.
The Intermediate Education Act, 1921, as its long
title-shows, is an Act for the establishment of a Board of
High School and Intermediate Education. The preamble says
that it was enacted because it was expedient to establish a
Board to take the place of the Allahabad University in
regulating and supervising the system of High school and
Intermediate education in the United Provinces, and to
prescribe courses therefore. Section 2 of the Act defines,
among other terms, Board. Institution, and Recognition.
Board means the Board of High School and Intermediate
Education. Institution means the whole of an institution or
a part thereof, as the case may be. Recognition means
recognition for the purpose of preparing candidates for
admission to the Board’s examination. Admittedly, Colvin
Taluqdars’ College is a recognised institution. Section 7
which defines the powers of the Board, after enumerating
certain specific powers, states that the Board will have the
power "to do all such other acts and things as may be requi-
site in order to further the objects of the Board as a body
constituted for regulating and supervising High School and
Intermediate Education". The powers mentioned in section 7
all relate to High school and Intermediate classes. Sec-
tion 16-A lays
down that for every recognised institution there shall be a
scheme of administration which must provide, among other
matters, for the constitution of a committee of management.
Section 16-B and section 16-C deal with the preparation of
the scheme of administration. Section 16-D authorises the
Director of Uttar Pradesh to cause inspection of a recog-
nized institution from time to time and order the removal
of any defect found on inspection. Sections 16E, 16F and 16G
provide for the qualifications and the conditions of service
of the teachers Of a recognized institution. Thus all
these sections are confined in their application to recog-
nized institutions only. Regulations have been framed
under the Act in respect of matters covered by section 16-A
to section 16-G. Regulations 31 to 45 in Chapter III of
the Regulations deal with the subject of punishment, enquiry
and suspension of the employees of a recognized institution.
It is said that the suspension and dismissal of the respond-
ent was not in accordance with these regulations.
It seems clear from the provisions set out above that
they all relate to recognized institutions; recognition is
by the Board for the purpose of preparing candidates for
admission to the Board’s examination, and Board means the
Board of High School and Intermediate Education. The basic
section of a school cannot therefore be part of a recognized
institution. We are unable to agree with the view taken
by the Division Bench of the High Court that the basic
section is an integral part of the institution and there-
fore must be governed by the provisions of the Intermediate
Education Act, 1921. A school by extending its operation
to fields beyond that covered by the Act cannot extend the
ambit of the Act to include in its sweep these new fields of
education which are outside its scope. The case of the
appellants on this point appears from the counter-affidavit
filed by them in answer to the writ petition. It is said
that "the college is running the Basic Section independently
and is neither registered by the Government nor affiliated
by any local body-and neither any grant in aid is being
taken by the department to run this section accordingly.
The college has its own rules and regulations to conduct the
Basic Section." It is not correct to think that since the
college has to have a committee of management as required by
section 16-A, a managing committee that looks after the
affairs of the Basic Section of the college must also be
functioning as a statutory body discharging duties under the
Intermediate Education Act and governed by the Regulations
framed thereunder. The Division Bench sought support for
the view it had taken from some provisions in the Education-
al Code of Uttar Pradesh but, as pointed by the learned
single Judge, the Code is only a compilation of the various
administrative rules and orders relating to educational
institutions in the State and has no statutory force. For
the reasons stated above, it must be held that the appel-
lants were not discharging any statutory function in making
the impugned orders affecting the respondent. The appeal
is accordingly allowed, the Judgment of the Division Bench
is set aside and that of the Single Judge restored. There
will be no order as to costs.
M.R. Appeal al-
lowed.
960