In one its recent judgements, the Delhi High Court has enunciated the position of Law and had called for max autonomy in the administration of private unaided institutions as the presence of Government interference in the Administration of such Institutions will undermine their independence.

The judgement came out while dealing with an appeal in which the appellant had challenged the order of the Single Bench of the High Court which had held that the appellant was not eligible to claim benefits under the Assured Career Progression Scheme (ACP) or the Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme (MACP).

Therefore, the appellant had asked for the implementation of the ACP Scheme after completion of 24 years of service and consequently also sought the arrears of differential salary.

In the appeal, it was also argued by the Appellant that for a period of 35 years, she was never promoted. She languished and stagnated at the same post for 35 years.

On the other hand, the Respondent argued that the appellant belongs to a private unaided school, which generates its own funds, and had received 3 financial upgradations upon being promoted.

It was also contended during the hearing that in the absence of any instructions regarding granting the benefit of MACP Scheme to the employees working in the private unaided schools, the question of allowing the benefit to the staff working in the un-aided private school is a matter of discretion of the school management keeping in mind the funds that are available.

The Respondent nullified the reliance of appellant on Section 10 of the Delhi School Education Act, 1973 by arguing that no specific instruction was issued to private unaided schools to implement the MACP Scheme and no guidelines have been made to raise funds for the financial burden arising out of the same. 

The Court agreed with the submissions made by the Respondent and noted that Section 10 of the Delhi School Education Act can't be invoked by the Appellants as the Respondent nowhere mandated the implementation of MACP Scheme for Private unaided schools.

Thus after hearing the arguments of both the sides, the Court held, 

"…There, necessarily, has to be a difference in the administration of private unaided institutions and government-aided institutions. Whereas in the latter case, the Government will have greater say in the administration, including admissions and fixing of fees, in the case of private unaided institutions, maximum autonomy in the day-to-day administration has to be with the private unaided institutions…"

Thus, the Court refused to interfere with the order passed by the Single Judge and noted that appellant is not entitled to any relief under the ACP Scheme or MACP Scheme.

The Judgement has been delivered Justice G.S.SISTANI and Justice JYOTI SINGH on 04, Nov 2019:

Read Judgement Here:

 

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