Delhi High Court brought the tussle between Bureaucracy & Educational Institutions to an end (Read Judgement)

The bench comprising of Justice Hari Shankar passed a judgement in case titled as Action Committee Unaided Recognized Private Schools v. Delhi Development Authority.

Facts of the case are the petitioner, a registered society, comprising approximately 300 private unaided recognised schools in Delhi, seeks, by means of the writ petition, to espouse the cause of various primary and middle schools, who, consequent to modified recognition granted by the DoE and the CBSE, are functioning at the senior secondary level. The claim of the petitioner is that the members of the petitioner should be allowed to run as senior secondary schools, without requiring payment, by them, of any additional charges, to the DDA.

The petitioner’s case is that, despite clear cut instructions, having been circulated by the respondent-Delhi Development Authority (DDA), allowing such upgradation, subject to the schools having the requisite land area, the DDA is, for no justifiable reason, refusing such upgradation until and unless additional charges are paid, by the said schools, for being allowed additional FAR, which such upgradation would entail.

The petitioner contended that the premium payable, to the DDA, at the time of allotment of plots, was the same for all educational institutions, irrespective of the level thereof, i.e. irrespective of whether they were primary, middle, secondary or senior secondary.

The High Court of Delhi stated that,

“It is hereby declared that the members of the petitioner-Association/Society, which are entitled to income tax exemption, would also be entitled to run their schools at the senior secondary level, without having to pay any additional charges to the DDA, whether by way of additional FAR charges, or otherwise.”

“The DDA is also directed to modify the lease deeds, executed with the individual societies, to the said effect; however, it is clarified that the right of the societies to run their institutions at the senior secondary level would not be conditional, or dependent, upon such modification,” the Court remarked.

The Delhi High Court observed that it is hoped, fondly, that, in future cases, statutory authorities, such as the DDA, the DoE and the CBSE, would avoid adopting conflicting stands, with respect to the functioning of educational institutions, so that, in the ultimate analysis, the right to education is in a position to prosper and thrive. One must bear in mind the fact that, at the end of the day, the voiceless students are the ones who are sacrificed, in the tussle between the bureaucracy and the educational institutions. In a welfare state, such as ours, this is unthinkable.

Read the Judgement: