St. Columbus School And Another v. Central Board Of Secondary Education

1. Allowed, subject to all just exceptions.

2. The application stands disposed of.

W.P.(C) 2965/2020

3. This matter has been taken up by video conferencing consequent to urgent listing thereof having been allowed by the Registry.

4. Issue notice to the respondent to show cause as to why rule nisi be not issued, returnable on 26 May 2020.

5. Notice is accepted by Mr. Amit Bansal, learned Standing Counsel, on behalf of respondent-CBSE.

6. Counter affidavit be filed within four weeks with advance copy to the petitioners, who may file rejoinder thereto, if any, within two week thereof.

CM APPL. 10295/2020 (stay)

7. Issue notice to the respondent, returnable on 26 May 2020.

8. Notice is accepted by Mr. Amit Bansal, learned Standing Counsel, on behalf of respondent-CBSE.

9. Reply to the application, if any, be filed within two weeks with advance copy to the petitioner who may file rejoinder thereto, if so advised, within one week thereof.

10. The impugned order, dated 12 March, 2020, adduces the following reasons for withdrawing the provisional affiliation granted to the petitioner school:

“AND WHEREAS, the Inquiry report reveals that except School Managing Committee of 2015, the constitution of Sumity Education Society and School Managing Committee of St. Columbus School is proprietary in character. This is violation of clause 2.3.2 of Affiliation Bye-Laws which stipulates that there should be a properly constituted Registered Society/ Registered Trust/ Registered Company under section 8 of the Companies Act-2013 having non-proprietary character not vesting control in a single individual or members of a family, conforming to the extant laws and rules.

AND WHEREAS, the Inquiry report mentioned that the school has issued false experience certificate to a teacher in r/o period of service in the School as a TGT. This is violation of clause 12.2.1 of Affiliation Bye-Laws which stipulates that gross malpractices in academic matters.

AND WHEREAS, the inquiry report mentioned that the school has appoint Principal which does not fulfil essential condition for the post of Principal and also is related to the Chairman of SMC. This is violation of clause 5.1 of Affiliation Bye-Laws which stipulates that the minimum qualifications for the teaching staff (including the Principal/ Vice-Principal/ Head of School) should be in accordance under the Clause No. 5.1.1 to 5.1.4 of Affiliation Bye-Laws.”

11. The last of the afore-extracted four paragraphs, which refers to non-production of “a relevant supported document related to school” is completely vague, as it does not even specify the document which was not produced.

12. Qua the remaining three allegations, Ms. Avnish Ahlawat, learned counsel for the petitioner, draws my attention to the following passages, in the preliminary inquiry report, dated 24 October, 2016, consequent to the inspection by the inspecting committee constituted by the respondent:

“(i) Allegation- That Smt. Sangeeta Bhati, Ex-Principal, St. Columbus School, Surajkund, Faridabad has issued false experience certificate to Smt. Parul Sharma and then appointed the same person in Mount Columbus School, Dakshinpuri.

Findings- Since Smt. Sangeeta Bhati, Daughter-in-law of Shri Rishi Choudhary is no more working in the school, therefore, Shri Rishi Choudhary, Chairman of the school was asked about the allegedly false experience certificate dated 16.01.2014 issued to Smt. Parul Sharma. He has deposed on 28.07.2016 that this certificate was typed by Ms. Jyoti Sharma, PA to the then Principal, Smt. Sangeeta Bhati, wherein her entire period of service w.e.f. 01.07.2003 to 30.06.2011 has been mentioned as TGT. It has been verified from the service record of Smt. Parul Sharma (copy of service book enclosed) that she has worked as as PRT w.e.f. 01 July, 2003 to 17 Jan, 2010 and then as TGT w.e.f. 18.01.2010 to 30.06.2011 in St. Columbus School, Faridabad. Then she joined as Manager-cum-Headmistress in Mount Columbus School, Dakshinpuri, New Delhi. Smt. Parul Sharma too has deposed on 12.07.2016 that an investigation was done in that regard (copy enclosed Annexure-4) and it is found that due to clerical error, the entire period of service from 01.07.2003 to 30.06.2011 has been shown to be TGT, which is not true.

In the opinion of IO, the mistake regarding the period of service of Smt. Parul Sharma as TGT w.e.f. 01.07.2003 to 30.06.2011 is due to oversight.

(ii) Allegation-That the then Principal, Smt. Sangeeta Bhati of St. Columbus School, Faridabad was not qualified for the post of Principal and the school had submitted copy of certificate of Smt. Sarita Sharma instead of Smt. Sangeeta Bhati in CBSE

Findings: In this regard, Shri Rishi Choudhary, the Chairman of the school has deposed on 13.07.2016 that Smt. Sangeeta Bhati, his daughter-in-law did not fulfil the eligibility criteria for the post of Principal. The school has never submitted the certificate of Smt. Sarita Sharma in place of Smt. Sangeeta Bhati at the time of extension of affiliation to CBSE. To probe further into this allegation, the IO has requested the Director (Affiliation), CBSE, HQ, Delhi vide letter dated 28.07.2016 (Copy enclosed Annexure-5) to provide the copies of certificates of Smt. Sangeeta Bhati and Smt. Sarita Sharma as submitted by the school. It is confirmed vide CBSE letter No.CBSE/Vig/F. 13605(32)/2016/A-2828 dated 24.10.2016 (Copy enclosed as Annexure-5a) that as per records available with CBSE, the school had submitted copies of the documents of educational qualification in r/o Mrs. Sarita Sharma vide their letter dated 21.12.2015. However, the certificates in r/o Smt. Sangeeta Bhati are not available with CBSE. It is verified from the Service record of Mrs. Sangeeta Bhati that she worked as Principal of St. Columbus School from 02.11.2009 to 31.10.2015. Thereafter, the school has appointed Smt. Sarita Sharma as the Principal from 26.11.2015 (Copy of service book pages enclosed as Annexure-5b).

Therefore, the allegation is not true.”

13. As such, Ms. Avnish Ahlawat would seek to point out that the appointment of Ms. Parul Sharma as PGT was found, by the Inspecting Committee, to be due to oversight and the allegation regarding the Principal, Smt. Sangeeta Bhati not being qualified for the post was found not to be true.

14. In any event, it is not in dispute that Smt. Sangeeta Bhati demitted office, as Principal of the petitioner-School, on 31 October, 2015, which was nearly four and half years before the issuance of the impugned order, dated 12 March, 2020.

15. Mr. Amit Bansal, learned Standing Counsel for the respondent, has invited my attention to the third ground, for disaffiliation, as cited in the impugned order dated 12 March, 2020, regarding constitution of a Society and the School Management Committee of the respondent school being proprietary in character which, according to him, infracts clause 3.2 of the affiliation bye-laws of the CBSE.

16. This is a matter which raises disputed questions of fact. The question of whether there is, in fact, any such infraction, in fact and in law, would have to be determined when the writ petition is heard in detail.

17. It would also be required to be seen whether, even assuming such infraction exists, it would justify withdrawal of the affiliation to the school, which would impact the fate of all the students in school. Disaffiliation and withdrawal of recognition, it is trite, are extreme measures, which can mar, irreparably, the academic progression of the affected students, and can be resorted to, if at all, only with extreme circumspection.

18. In my view, at this stage, keeping in mind the interests of the students, and in view of the avowed public objective of maximising reach of education, interim directions are required to be issued.

19. As such, till the next date of hearing, there shall be ad interim stay of the operation of the impugned order dated 12 March, 2020.

20. The respondent-CBSE is also directed to reflect the petitioner school as affiliated on its web portal, till the next date of hearing, subject to further orders to be passed in this regard.