M.M.Dutt, J. - (1.) This appeal has been preferred by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, its President and Secretary against the judgment of a learned single Judge of this Court. By the said judgment, the learned Judge made absolute the Rule Nisi issued on the application of the respondents Nos. 1, 2 and 3 under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.
(2.) The respondents Nos. 1 and 3 are the guardians of two students of Class VIII and the respondent No. 2 is the West Bengal Headmaster Association. In the Writ Petition, the said respondents who were the Writ Petitioners, challenged the validity of the revised history syllabus for Class VIII prescribed by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education. The case of the Writ Petitioners is that in the State of West Bengal, there are two types of schools, namely, one under the Central Board of Education, New Delhi, and the other under the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education. The syllabi of the two groups of schools are different, but both of them are in conformity with the syllabus as framed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training, hereinafter referred to as NCERT, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Education, Government of India, New Delhi. The complaint of the Writ Petitioners, in short, is that there has been serious departure in the revised history syllabus for Class VIII from the syllabus that was in force immediately before the revised syllabus. In the revised syllabus, there is no specific mention of any Indian leader-- social, religious, literary, scientific or political -- whereas names of Marx, Engles. Mao, Sun Yatsen, Chiang, eleven leaders of intellectual renaissance, three leaders of renaissance in Arts, six leaders of renaissance in Science, ten navigators of Europe and three leaders of reformation movement in Europe have been specifically mentioned in the syllabus. The main grievance of the Writ Petitioners is that different phases of freedom movement in India have been covered by only 10 pages out of 135 pages, whereas Bolshevik revolution has occupied 5 pages, Chinese revolution 5 pages and revolution in South East Asia 3 pages. It is alleged that the students who will pass from the Board under the revised syllabus, particularly in history, may be lost in track in Central educational system and may develop separate outlook affecting national integration and national solidarity. It is contended by them that the revised history syllabus for Class VIII has net been framed in accordance with the prevision of Section 27 (2) (c) of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education Act. 1963, as amended by the West Bengal Secondary Education (Amendment) Art, 1979 read with the provision of clause (g) of Sub-section (3) of Section 19A incorporated in the Act by the said amendment Act. The further challenge to the validity of the revised history syllabus is that it is ultra vires Article 19 (1) (a) read with Article 51A (b) of the Constitution of India.
(3.) The Rule Nisi was opposed by the appellants and also by the State of West Bengal. An application was filed by the West Bengal Publishers' Association for being added as a party respondent in the Writ Petition. It appears from the record that the said application was not disposed of by the learned Judge. The West Bengal Publisners Association has also filed an appeal against the judgment of the learned Judge.;