The Hindu : GO withdrawing Plus Two batches quashed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 18, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala

GO withdrawing Plus Two batches quashed

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI JUNE 17. A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday set aside a recent Government Order withdrawing as many as 38 additional Plus Two batches sanctioned in 32 existing higher secondary schools by the previous Government.

The Bench comprising Justice K. S. Radhakrishnan and Justice K. A. Mohammed Shafi, while quashing the order issued on May 18, directed the State Government to pass a proper order as directed earlier by the Bench within three months. The order should be passed on merit in each case.

According to the Government, the order was passed after due consideration and after hearing the affected parties. The Bench had directed the Government to look into the complaints of illegality in the sanctioning of additional batches in existing higher secondary schools.

The Government Order had pointed out that though the District Level Committees could not specifically point out any illegality, they had adopted a general stand that those schools that did not have the minimum requirement of 25 students should be cancelled.

Besides, the committees had found thatthese schools were running additional batches illegally and had higher secondary seats far in excess of the actual requirement. The court opined that the Government did not take a fair decision on merit after considering the circumstances of each case. The Government Order was passed without stating any specific reason for cancelling the grant.

Referring to the reason cited in the Government Order that a few schools could not commence the batches for want of students, the judges pointed out that the order did not say which school fell under this category and also the material on which the reason was based.

The court found that the impugned order was passed without application of mind. In fact, the Government had stated that a fair decision would be taken after considering the circumstances of each case. No such examination was done. The order was `a non-speaking and vague' one. It could not stand in the eye of law. Therefore, it was liable to be set aside.

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