957
_(_
COMMISSIONER, LUCKNOW DIVISION AND ORS. A
_v._
KUMARI PREM LATA MISRA
_October_ 26, 1976
(Y. V. CHAN!)RACHUD, P. K. GOSWAMI AND A. C. GUPTA, JJ.]
_U.P._ _Intermediate Education Act, 1921,-Whether the_ _basic_ _section_ _of_ _a_
_college is within_ _the_ _scope of._
The respondent, an assistant teacher in the basic section of the Colvin
Taluqdll.r's c0llege, Lucknow, was suspended and then removed from service,
by the managing committee of the college. She filed a writ petition in the
High Court challenging her dismissal order, contending that it violated the
regulatio-. framed under the (U.P.) Intermediate Education Act, 1921. The
appellants contended that the college was rulllling the basic Section independently and without any affiliation or grants from the Government or
any local body, and that the said Act did not apply.
The Single Judge of the High Court dismissed the Writ petition as none of
the opposite parties was a public authority. An appeal was allowed by a
Division Bench of the High Court on the ground that the basic Section was
an integral part of the college and was run by a Managing Committee constituted under the Intermediate Education Act.
Allowing the appeal the Court,
HELD : The provisions of the Act relate to recognized institutions; recognition is by the Board for the purpose of preparing candidates for admission
to the Board's examination; Board means the Board of High School and
Intermediate Education. The basic section of a college cannot therefore be
part of a recognised institution. It is not correct to think that since Section
l 6A of the Act requires a college to have a committee of management, a
managing committee that looks after the affairs of the basic section of the
college must also be functioning as a statutory body discharging duties under
the Act and governed by the regulatio:1.1s framed thereunder. An institution
by extending its operation to fields beyond that covered by the Act cannot
extend the ambit of the Act to include in its sweep, these new fields of education which are outside its scope. [959 C-GJ
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal No. 343 of 1974.
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dated
in Spl.
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(Appeal by special leave from the Judgment and Order
11-9-1973 of the Allahabad High! Court (Lucknow Bench)
Appeal No. 118/71).
_D. Mukherjee_ and _C. P._ _Lal_ for the appellant.
_Akhtar Ilussain,.S. N. Prasad_ and _D. N. Misra,_ for the Respon.dents.
~ The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
GUPTA J.-Colvin Taluqdars' College in Lucknow, run by a
·society registered under the Societies Registration Aet, imparts education at the following different stages :
(i) Pre-basic i.e., nursery classes.
(ii) Junior basic, called primary stage, from class I to V.
(iii) Senior basic _i.e.,_ Junior high school stage from class
VI to VIII, and
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958 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1977) 1 S.C.R.
(iv) Higher secondary st~ge, called high school stage·classes IX and X.
(b) Intermediate stage-Classes XI and XII
In the beginning the college had no pre-basic or junior basic classes.
and started with class VI; classes I to V and nursery classes were
opened later. The respondent was appointed an assistant teacher in
the basic section of the college in 1961. Following certain incidents
involving her, she was suspended on or about August 20, 1970 and
ultimately her services were terminated by the managing committee
of the college some time in October 1970. She filed a writ ~titian
in the High Court at Allahabad (Luc/mow Bench) alleging _inter_ _alia_
that the order terminating her services was mala fide and made in
violation of the regulations framed under the (U.P.) Int~mediate
Education Act, 1921. §he asked for a writ of _certiorari_ quashing
the order of suspension and the order terminating her services, and
a writ of _mandamus_ directing the opposite parties to pay the ful1 salary
and emoluments due to her. The president of the managing committee of the college, the principal, the head mistress of the basic section
and the committee of management were impleaded as opposite parties
1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively. The writ petition was dismissed by a
single Judge of the High Court on a preliminary ground that none of
the opposite parties was a public authority and the impugned orders
suspending her and terminating her services were not made in the
exercise of any statutory function. On appeal a Division Bench of
the High Court took the view that the basic section of the college
was an integral part of the college and held that the managing committee of the college was a statutory body constituted under the Intermediate Education Act and governed by the regulations framed thereunder. The Division Bench therefore found the writ petition maintainable and remanded the case to the single Judge to be decided on
merits.
The Intermediate Education Act, 1921, as its long title-shows, is
an Act for the establishment of a Board of High School and Intermediate Education. The preamble says that it was enacted because
it was expedient to establish a Board to take the place of the Allahabad University in regnl:}ting and supervising the system of High
school and Intermediate education in the United Provinces, and to
prescribe courses theref9r. Sectiqn 2 of the Act defines, among other
terms, Board. Institution, and Recognition. Board means the
Board of High School and Intermediate Education: Institution means
the whole of an institution or a part thereof, as the case may be.
Recognition means recognition for the purpose of preparing candidates
for admission to the Board's examination. Admittedly, Colvin Taluqdars' College is a recognised institution. Section 7 which defines
the powers of the Board, after enumerating certain specific powers,
states that the Board will have the power "to do all such other acts and
things as may be requisite in order to further the objects of the Board
as a body constituted for regulating and supervising High School and
Intermediate Education". The powers mentioned in section 7 1111
relate to High school and Intermediate classes. Section 16-A lay~
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COMM., LUCKNOW DIVISION _v._ PREM LATA _(Gupta,_ _!.)_ 959
·down that for every recognised institution there shall be a scheme of
.administration which must provide, among other matters, for the constitution of a committee of management. Section 16-B and section 16-C
deal with the preparation of the scheme of administration. Section
16-D authorises the Director of Uttar Pradesh to cause inspection of
a recognized institution from time to time and order the removal of
any defect found on inspection. Sections 16E, 16F and 16G provide for
the qualifications and the conditions of service of the teachers of a
recognized institution. Thus all these sections are confined in their
application to recognized institutions only. Regulations have been
framed under the Act in respect of matters covered by section 16-A
to sec~n 16-G. Regulations 31 to 45 in Chapter III of the Regulations deal with the subject of punishment, enquiry and suspension of
the employees of a recognized institution. It is said that the suspension and •dismissal of the respondent was not in accordance with these
regulations.
## Ii seems clear from the provisions set out above that they all relate
to recognized institutions; recognition is by the Board for the purpose
of preparing candidates for admission to the Board's examination,
and Board means the Board of High School and Intermediate Education. The basic section of a school cannot therefore be part of a
recognized institution. We are unable to agree with the view taken
by the Division Bench of the High .Court that the basic section is an
integral part of the institution and therefore must be governed by the
provisions of the Intermediate Education Act, 1921. A school by
extending its operation to fields beyond that covered by the Act cannot
extend the ambit of the Act to include in its sweep these new fields
of education which are outside its scope. The case of th~ appellants
on this point appears from the counter-affidavit filed by them in answer
to the writ petition. It is said that "the college is running the Basic
Section independently and is neither registered by the Government nor
affiliated by any local body and neither any grant in aid is being taken
by the department to run this section accordingly. The college has
its own rules and regulations to conduct the Basic Section." It is
not correct to think that since the college has to have a committee of
management as required by section 16-A, a managing committee that
looks after the affairs of the Basic Section of the college must also be
functioning as a statutory body discharging duties under the Intermediate Education Act and governed by the Regulations framed thereunder. The Division Bench sought support for the view it had taken
from some provisions in the Educational Code of Uttar Pradesh but,
as pointed by the learned single Judge, the Code is only a compilation
of the various administrative rules and orders relating to educational
institutions in the State and has no statutory force. For the reasons
stated above, it must be held that the appellants were not discharging
any statutory functl'On in making the impugned orders affecting the respondent. The appeal is accordingly allowed, the Judgment of the
Division Bench is set aside and that of the Single Judge restored.
There will be no order as to costs.
M.R. _Appeal allowed._
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