The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court has initiated suo motu Public Interest Litigation (PIL) proceedings after taking cognisance of a media report disclosing that nearly 300 colleges across Maharashtra continue to receive government salary grants despite having no enrolled students.
A division bench of Justice Nitin W. Sambre and Justice Sachin S. Deshmukh, in an order, referred to a news item published in the Times of India on July 12 titled “No Students in 300 Maha Colleges, but staff pocket crores in salaries”. The Bench was alerted to the report by a member of the Bar and proceeded to take judicial notice of the issue, given the nature of the revelations.
“The news item speaks of 300 colleges in Maharashtra are getting grants towards salary of the staff, however not a single student has taken admission in it,” the Court noted, calling it a “shocking revelation” indicative of both “wastage of the public money” and “mismanagement of the educational institutions by the Managements.”
The Court observed that statutory provisions exist to address such a situation. It referred to mechanisms under the Maharashtra Employees of Private Schools (Conditions of Service) Regulation Act, 1981, the Secondary School Code, and the Right to Education Act, 2009, which empower the authorities to regulate employment conditions in institutions that are either defunct or under-enrolled.
“In case, if the Management is not getting sufficient number of students in their institutions, the Statute provides for dealing with such situation and the staff of such institutions can be dealt with in accordance with the provisions” of the aforementioned laws, the Bench stated.
The Court further noted that the report of 300 junior colleges receiving government grants despite having no student enrolment “is admitted even at the State Government level as can be inferred from the news item,” and accordingly directed that a comprehensive factual and legal assessment be undertaken.
To facilitate this process, the Bench appointed Advocate Rahul Ghuge as Amicus Curiae and directed him to frame an appropriate petition within two weeks. The Court also directed Senior Advocate and Government Pleader D.V. Chauhan to render assistance to the Amicus Curiae.
The matter is now listed for further consideration on August 4, 2025.
Case Title: Court on Its Own Motion Vs. The State Of Maharashtra & Others
Case No.: Suo Motu Public Interest Litigation No. 03/2025
Coram: Justice Sachin S. Deshmukh and Justice Nitin W. Sambre
Read Order:
Picture Source :
