PROVISIONAL RECOGNITION TO PRIVATE SCHOOLS, RELEASE OF RRFS | HC warns authorities against non-compliance of its orders

Srinagar, Jan 20: The High Court of J&K and Ladakh has directed the authorities to comply with its direction regarding the accord of provisional recognition to several schools and also the release of Registration Return Forms(RRFs) concerning the students of these schools.

“In the meantime, the respondents sounded a caution to consider the compliance of the writ court direction as it obtains concerning the future of the students undergoing their education in the petitioner’s school,” a bench of Justice Rahul Bharti said while hearing a contempt plea.

The court ordered that the contempt petition be clubbed with other similar pending batches of petitions.

While hearing petitions by the aggrieved schools, the court had earlier issued notice to the government for objections to the pleas.

In the meantime, subject to the objections from the side, the court said: “In the interest of justice and the context of the career of the students admitted and studying in the petitioner schools deems it fit and proper to direct the respondents to provisionally accord recognitions to the petitioners’ schools.”

The court directed the respondents (authorities) in particular J&K’s Secretary of School Education Department, the Director of School Education Kashmir and the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education to accord provisional recognitions to the petitioners’ schools and also release RRFs in favour of these schools in the manner as used to be provided and extended before the issuance of SO 177 dated April 15, 2022.

The recognition issue came up after the J&K government on April 15, 2022, amended the rules under the Education Act 2002 to provide for fresh guidelines relating to the use of land and building structures by private schools in Jammu and Kashmir.

The amendments were made by the Lieutenant Governor in the Jammu and Kashmir School Education Rules, 2010 in the exercise of the powers conferred by section 29 of the Jammu and Kashmir School Education Act, 2002.

The petitions underscore that the regime of law under which school education used to be governed in erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state (now UT) firstly under the J&K Board of School Education Act, 1975, in terms whereof, a Board of Secondary Education is an entity entrusted with statutory powers and authority to administer the various facets of school education in the Jammu and Kashmir and secondly by late coming of J&K School Education Act, 2002.

“Both acts have their respective defined regime but coincide concerning schools, be it government or private recognised,” they said.

They contend that as a consequence of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education Act, 1975, has come to be amended in terms of S O 3466 (E) dated October 5, 2020, issued by the Central Government whereby the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education Act, 1975 has been given amendments in different sections.

“In exercise of the power vested under section 29, the J&K government has come forward with S O 177 of 2022 dated April 15, 2022, thereby amending Jammu and Kashmir School Education Rules 2010. In terms of the amendment made about Jammu and Kashmir School Education Rules 2010, rule 4 has been amended with the addition of sub-rule 2 (B),” they said.

The petitioners plead that in terms of this amendment, Rule (2 B) requires a no objection certificate (NOC) regarding land use to be issued by the Revenue Department and the documents relating to possession of the land as regards the school premises for earning of recognition and permission or renewal of permission concerning an existing school.

The petitioners contend that they find themselves in a quandary in the context of the land site housing their respective school premises which in most cases is shamilat or khachari land.

They contend that how respective sites came to be appropriated to set up the school premises, the government authorities all along over time have been well aware of the site status of their schools and still the affiliations and recognitions came to be granted and revised from time to time without any demure from the end of the government at any point of time.

The petitioners submit that by SO 177 of 2022, they will be confronted with an existential crisis looming large as the concerned revenue agencies are not inclined to entertain any application for grant of requisite NOCs in their favour.

The petitioners’ further contention is that an imminent fallout of the operation of SO 177/2022 is that existing recognition of their schools for classes 9th 10th, 11th and 12th is going to be held up thereby exposing students' careers to peril as they will not be able to earn issuance of registration return forms (RRFs) from the State Board of School Education for lack of renewal of the permission.

Before the court, they raised an important question of law in the context of identification of a school as an institution, correlation with the land site upon which a school premises is set up and tagging of renewal of permission of existing schools with land site status.