- (1.) W.P. 1163 of 2008 dated July 1, 2008, is at the instance of Arya Samaj and its Secretary as well as by the Managing Committee of Raghumal Arya Vidyalaya (hereafter the said Institution) and the Secretary thereof.
(2.) It has been claimed therein that the said Institution is a minority institution. The State Government had accepted the said Institution as a minority institution by granting "Special Rules for the management of Secondary Schools established and run by Arya Samaj and/or Gurukul Vidyalaya Trust, under the aegis of Arya Pratinidhi Sabha of the State (Representative Body of Arya Samajies in the State)" (hereafter the Special Rules). The Special Rules were framed in exercise of power conferred by Rule 33 of the Management of Recognised Non-Government Institutions (Aided and Unaided) Rules, 1969 (hereafter the Management Rules) on the application of Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, Bengal and Assam on behalf of a class of institutions to which provisions of Article 30 of the Constitution applied. It is also claimed in the writ petition that vide paragraph 7 of the Special Rules, power had been conferred on the school committee of any school or institution run by Arya Pratinidhi Sabha of the State through its local unit of Arya Samaj to appoint employees, both permanent and temporary, salaried or honorary. In view thereof, and particularly having regard to the provisions of Section 15 of the West Bengal School Service Commission Act, 1997 (hereafter the SSC Act) laying down that provisions thereof would not apply, inter alia, to a school established and administered by a minority, whether based on religion or language, the West Bengal Central School Service Commission (hereafter the Central Commission) lacks power and authority to recommend any candidate for filling up the vacant post of Headmaster of the said Institution. It was, however, admitted in the writ petition that the Managing Committee of the said Institution had, on a mistaken notion, resolved in its meeting held on February 2, 2003 to approach the Central Commission for recommending a candidate for appointment on the post of Headmaster. Later, the said resolution was cancelled by a further resolution dated December 9, 2007 of the Managing Committee whereby it was further resolved that appointment on the post of Headmaster of the said Institution shall be made by the Managing Committee as per procedure after receiving prior permission from the District Inspector of Schools (S.E.), Kolkata (hereafter the DIoS) vide paragraph 7 of the Special Rules. Request made to the Central Commission and the West Bengal Regional School Service Commission, Southern Region (hereafter the Regional Commission) to refrain from taking steps to fill up the post of Headmaster of the said Institution was not heeded resulting in presentation of the writ petition.
(3.) The principal relief claimed in the writ petition is for a declaration to the effect that the Central Commission, the Regional Commission, and their officers, being the respondents 5 to 10, have no power and authority in law to recommend any candidate for appointment to the post of Headmaster of the said Institution, which is a minority institution. As and by way of incidental relief, it has been claimed that the vacancy on the post of Headmaster of the said Institution ought to be delisted from the vacancy list of Headmasters in different schools, prepared and maintained by the Central Commission, in connection with VIIIth Regional Level Selection Test for Headmasters, 2007 and for quashing any decision that has been taken by the Central Commission to recommend any candidate for such appointment. Interim relief was prayed for, on the following term : "e) To pass an interim order restraining the respondents their men, agents, successors, survivors, representatives or assigns and/or each one of them from recommending any name of candidate for appointment to the post of Headmaster of the said school of the petitioners till the disposal of the writ petition.";