LILA RAY Vs. STATE OF WEST BENGAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE Court:- The petitioner in this WP under art.226 dated March 9, 2010 is questioning a decision of the District Inspector of Schools (SE), Burdwan dated November 26, 2009 (WP p.43). The relevant parts of the decision are quoted below:-

(2.) THE Management of Recognised Non-Government Institutions (Aided and Unaided) Rules, 1969 made under the provisions of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education Act, 1963 were and are applicable to the school. In view of the provisions of r.6A of the rules, the petitioner was to be treated as a Life-Member of the Managing Committee of the school during her lifetime. She also acquired a right to nominate a person as a member on the Committee. In view of the provisions of r.6 of the rules, the Managing Committee of the school was and is to consist, inter alia, of one Life-Member, if any, selected or nominated in the manner laid down in r.6A of the rules. Rule 6A of the rules provides, inter alia, that when there is more than one Life-Member and the Life-Member selected by rotation by the Director or by an officer authorised by him declines to serve on the Committee, the Director or the officer may select any other Life-Member from the panel. By an Order No.4000(16) Sc/S dated December 4, 1981 the Director of Secondary Education, West Bengal laid down the procedure for selection of Founders and LifeMembers for the Managing Committee of a school to which the rules are applicable. In para.2 of the order it was mentioned that the rotation of Life-Members would be determined according to the dates of donation, that is, the person who donated first should be given first chance and so on until the completion of the rotation. Since consequent upon acceptance of the donation the petitioner became the sole Life-Member of the Committee of the school, from 1994 she was selected as such for serving on all the Committes reconstituted upto 2004. One Chhanda Tah donated Rs.20,000 to the school in 2004. Consequently, Chhanda was treated as a Life-Member of the Committee and was selected as such to serve on all the Committees reconstituted from 2004; she is on the present Committee whose term will expire in February 2013. Since after 2007 the petitioner was not placed on the Committee according to the rotation rule, she approached the school authority and the District Inspector of Schools; and the District Inspector of Schools refused to entertain her claim on the grounds that she had not been accepted by him as a Life-Member of the Committee and the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education did not give approval to her Life-Membership. Advocates for the State and Chhanda have accepted that the petitioner was and still is entitled to be treated as a Life-Member of the Committee of the school, and that both the petitioner and Chhanda were to be selected for serving on the reconstituted Committees as Life-Member thereof according to the rotation rule. It is evident from the provisions of r.6A of the rules and the order of the Director dated December 4, 1981 that it was for the District Inspector of Schools to maintain the requisite panel select the LifeMember for serving on the reconstituted Committees. The school authority 's acceptance of the petitioner 's donation conferred on her the statutory status of a Life-Member of the Committee of the school, and hence the school authority was to forward her and Chhanda 's names following the rotation rule, and the District Inspector of Schools was only to select them making necessary scrutiny for serving on the reconstituted Committees by rotation. A Life-Membership under r.6A was or is not subject to acceptance or approval of anyone other than the Managing Committee.