[Cites 0, Cited by 0]
Jharkhand High Court
Kedar Nath Laldas vs The State Of Jharkhand & Ors on 19 February, 2026
Author: Rajesh Shankar
Bench: Rajesh Shankar
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
W.P.(PIL) No. 4052 of 2025
Kedar Nath Laldas ... ... Petitioner
Versus
The State of Jharkhand & Ors. ... ... Respondents
CORAM: HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH SHANKAR
For the Petitioner : In-person
For the Respondent-State : Mr. Sahbaj Akhtar, AC to AAG-III
For the Resp. Nos.6, 7 & 10 : Mr. Rahul Kumar, Advocate
For the Respondent No. 9 : Mr. Sudharshan Srivastava, Advocate
For the Respondent No. 11 : Mr. Prabhat Kumar Sinha, Advocate
For the Respondent No. 12 : Mr. Rajiv Sinha, Advocate
Ms. Shreesha Sinha, Advocate
Mr. B.K. Prasad, Advocate
Mr. Niraj Kumar, Advocate
-----
Order No. 09 Dated: 19.02.2026
1. Heard.
2. We are now informed that Special Leave Petitions against this Court's
order dated 11.12.2025 and 06.01.2026 have been disposed of. Both
the orders have not been interfered with.
3. We allow both the parties to file additional pleadings within four weeks
from today. Once the pleadings are complete, we will fix a date for
final disposal of this petition given the directions of the Hon'ble
Supreme Court.
4. In the meanwhile, we are quite pained that the respondents, despite
there being no interim order from the Hon'ble Supreme Court, have
not bothered to comply with this Court's orders against which the
S.L.Ps. have now been dismissed. Even after the dismissal of the SLP,
no effective steps have been taken towards implementation.
5. From the affidavit filed by Prof. Ashok Kumar Sinha (Sabhapati), we
also prima facie gather that concerted efforts are being made to avoid
implementing our orders. At this stage, though we are not
investigating the allegations made in the Sabhapati's affidavit because
the respondents are yet to respond to it, we think that the Principal of
the Netarhat Residential School (R-10), who is one of the members of
the ad hoc committee, must establish that he is serious to co-operate
with the functioning of the ad hoc committee and takes all necessary
steps to assist the ad hoc committee in complying with the various
directions issued by this Court in paragraph-13 of this order dated
11.12.2025.
6. One of the duties assigned to the committee is to examine the
allegations levelled by the petitioner with respect to the Principal's
appointment. At least for the next meeting, this issue of allegations
against the Principal may not be examined, as the Principal himself is
part of the ad hoc committee. At a later stage, the Principal could
recuse himself, and the ad hoc committee could then examine the
allegations.
7. However, the rest of the work assigned to the ad hoc committee must
continue, and for this, the Principal's co-operation is a must.
Therefore, the Principal must render such co-operation and not do
anything to suggest that he is interested to frustrate the functioning of
the ad hoc committee.
8. We also note that most of the bureaucratic members of the ad hoc
committee are not attending the ad hoc committee's meetings or
showing any interest in salvaging the past glory and prestige of the
Netarhat Residential School. We are informed that the Principal
Secretary, Human Resources Development Department, the Secretary,
Department of Finance, and Mr Rajesh Kumar Roy (Retired Teacher of
Netarhat Residential School) have not even bothered to attend the
earlier meeting.
9. There are allegations that even the Sabhapati was not allowed to
attend the earlier meeting, though he eventually did. There are
allegations that the Principal did not even arrange for proper premises
to hold a meeting and the meeting had to be ultimately held in the
Netarhat Old Boys Association (NOBA) office. If these allegations are
correct, then this is a serious matter that will have to be examined.
This is because any non-cooperation with the ad hoc committee would
amount to obstruction of compliance with the orders of this Court.
10. Now, we direct that the ad hoc committee meets on 14.03.2026 at
11:00 a.m. at Netarhat Vidyalaya Samitee, Camp Office, Project
Building, Ranchi. The Principal of the Netarhat Residential School must
ensure that he remains present with all the records necessary for
carrying out the works assigned to the ad hoc committee under
paragraph-13 of this Court's order dated 11.12.2025. The Sabhapati,
Prof. Ashok Kumar Sinha, must also inform the Principal, Netarhat
Residential School, by 27.02.2026, of the documents or files he
considers necessary for this meeting. The Principal must ensure that
these documents and files are made available to all members of the ad
hoc committee on the date of the meeting. The principal must not rely
only on the documents or files requested by the Sabhapati. He must
exercise his discretion and bring the necessary documents and files to
the committee to enable it to function effectively.
11. We are also informed that the Principal Secretaries and other
bureaucrats send their deputies to attend the meeting. This is again
improper. If the Court has constituted a committee, then the
committee members have no right to further delegate their position to
their deputies.
12. The Sabhapati must file an affidavit in this Court by 20.03.2026,
enclosing the minutes of the meeting to be held on 14.03.2026. If
there is any disagreement over the minutes, the Sabhapati, in addition
to any agreed minutes, may file an affidavit explaining his version.
Similarly, the Principal may file his affidavit. However, we sincerely
hope and expect that the ad hoc committee members do not fight with
each other over trivialities but, together, fight to restore the glory and
prestige of the Netarhat Residential School for which they are
constituted.
13. The Registry to accept affidavits/reports filed by the Sabhapati -
Prof. Ashok Kumar Sinha.
14. The Petitioner and Mr. Rama Niwas (representative of NOBA) are
allowed to attend the meeting scheduled on 14.03.2026. However, we
are assured that they will not speak or otherwise interfere with the
committee's proceedings. Whatever they wish to say, they can
communicate to the Sabhapati, but they cannot themselves take part
in the proceedings.
15. The Sabhapati is permitted to record the proceedings of the meeting
on video.
16. List the matter on 02.04.2026.
(M. S. Sonak, C.J.)
February 19, 2026 (Rajesh Shankar, J.)
Manish/Ritesh
