ALOK SHARMA,J. - (1.) The petitioner Bandhu Public Senior Secondary School Khatu Shyamji (hereinafter 'the School') is aggrieved of the order dated 16-6-2015 passed by the Director Secondary Education, Rajasthan Bikaner, (hereinafter 'the Director') and the affirming order dated 15-7-2015 passed by the Appellate Authority cum Special Secretary to the Government Education Department (hereinafter 'the Appellate Authority') whereby its up gradation to Secondary and Senior Secondary level was suspended for the academic sessions 2015-16 and 2016-17. The background to the petition is as under:-
(2.) The petitioner school is being run by Bandhu Public School Society, Khatu Shyamji District Sikar (hereinafter 'the Society'). Mool Chand Mawaliya is the Secretary both of the Society and the School. A news item came to be published in the vernacular press that one Suresh Kumar Mawaliya, Vice President of the Society and an employee of the school, one Panne Singh Chauhan, Lecturer (Geography) had been accused in FIR (No.77/2015, Police Station Sarada District Udaipur on 24-4-2015) at the instance of an Examiner of the Board of Secondary Education on the allegation that they sought to bribe the Examiner for marking students of the school on the higher side and had threatened him on his refusal to do so. Following the news item published in the newspaper, an enquiry was initiated by the District Education Officers (Secondary) Sikar and the Additional District Education Officer (Secondary) Sikar. On their visit to the school on 29-4-2015, the Principal of the school refused to provide the relevant record of the school mandated to be maintained under the Non Government Educational Institution Act, 1989 (hereinafter 'the Act of 1989') and Non Government Educational Institutions Rules, 1993 (hereinafter 'the Rules of 1993') on the ground that the record was locked in a room in the school premises key whereof was with the Secretary of the Society, who was then allegedly travelling. A show cause notice was issued to the school on 1-5-2015 by the Director, Secondary Education Bikaner to the school. Explanation thereto dated 7-5-2015 was found unsatisfactory. On consideration of the matter, the Director decided to suspend the School's up gradation upto Secondary/ Senior Secondary level for two academic years i.e. 2015-16 and 2016-17 by the impugned order dated 16-6-2015. As stated above, the said order was affirmed in appeal on 15-7-2015 passed by the Appellate Authority.
(3.) Mr. Lokesh Sharma, appearing for the school has submitted that the order dated 16-6-2015 is arbitrary, and vitiated by non application of mind. It was submitted that the illegality of the order passed by the Director, has been compounded by the cursory order dated 15-7-2015 passed by the Appellate Authority without considering the grounds of appeal. It was submitted that the impugned orders are also vitiated for being based on the fact of FIR No.77/2015, dated 24-4-2015 being registered at Police Station Sarada, District Udaipur for offences under Sections 420, 384 and 120B I.P.C. and Sections 5 and 6 of the Rajasthan Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair means) Act, 1992 against the Vice President of the Society and an employee of the school. It was submitted that the aforesaid FIR was not a part of the show cause notice, yet the final order on the show cause notice, subsequent to filing reply, was founded thereon. Reference to the FIR in the impugned order dated 16-6-2015 was thus extraneous to the show cause notice making the said order liable to be set aside on the ground of violation of the principles of natural justice. It was further submitted that even otherwise the act of the Vice President of the society, which runs the school, and that of a lecturer of the school in prima facie seeking to bribe an examiner of the Board for the benefit of students of the school and threatening him on failure to do so, does not attach to the society and the school. It was submitted that unless law provides so, vicarious liability for criminal acts can not be attributed to another. And in fact neither the Society nor the school has been arrayed as an accused in FIR No.77/2015 at Police Station Sarada. The impugned order dated 16-6-2015 as affirmed by the Appellate Authority vide order dated 15-7-2015 are thus vitiated for failure to distinguish a member of the society which is an independent body corporate from its delinquent member. Similarly an employee of the school cannot be equated with the school itself to justify disciplinary/ punitive action against it for an authorised criminal act of such employee. It was submitted that aside of the misdirection above, for the allegations in the show cause notice, no deficiency was made out in respect of running of the school. All records required to be maintained by the school in terms of the Rules of 1993 were submitted to the Director Secondary Education Bikaner on 29-5-2015 pursuant to the show cause notice dated 1-5-2015. Consequently the impugned order dated 16-6-2015 as also the affirming order dated 15-7-2015 are liable to be set aside.;