WP(C) 3388/2008 BEFORE HON’BLE THE MR. JUSTICE AMITAVA ROY The letter dated 31/7/2008 issued by the Block Elementary Educat ion Officer, Lahorighat Block, Morigaon, Assam, recalling his approval to the Co mmittee headed by the petitioner as its President and instead reinstalling the o ne with the respondent No. 7 in the same capacity is the subject matter of chall enge in the instant proceeding. 2. The respondents having responded to the notice issued, this peti tion after hearing the learned Counsels for the parties is being disposed of at the admission stage. 3. I have heard Mr. HRA Choudhury, Sr. Advocate for the petitioner, Mr. M.K. Mishra, learned Standing Counsel, Education Department, for the offici al respondents and Mr. Kayum, learned Counsel for the respondent No. 7. The lear ned Counsel for the respondent No. 6, the Headmaster of the Lochanabori M.V. Sch ool, Morigaon (hereafter referred to as the School) has also been heard. 4. The petitioner’s pleaded case in an abridged form is that the Sc hool, a provincialised institution, is governed by the provisions of the Assam E lementary Education (Provincialisation) Rules, 1977 (hereafter referred to as th e Rules). As per the guidelines formulated by the Government, a general meeting was held on 13/6/2008 in the School premises for the constitution of its Managin g Committee. The petitioner has presented himself to be a parents representative . According to him, he being qualified, offered his candidature for the post of President of the said committee. Though initially there were four such candidate s, two withdrew from the fray leaving him and the respondent No. 7 as the conten ders for the office. As attempts to effect a conciliation between the two failed , it was decided to elect the President and for that purpose another date was fi xed. Acting on that decision, the petitioner and most of the voters left the mee ting. 5. However, on that next date, he came to learn that on the instruc tion of the observer present in the meeting resolutions were taken in absence of most of the local people and a panel of the members of the Managing Committee a long with the names of the petitioner and the respondent No. 2 as contenders for the office of the President of the Managing Committee was forwarded to the Bloc k Elementary Education Officer, Lochanabori Block for approval. The petitioner h as alleged that on political interventions, the said authority approved the Mana ging Committee of the School on 6/7/2008 with the respondent No. 7 as its Presid ent. According to the petitioner, the local people of the area represented befor e the District Elementary Education Officer, Morigaon, against the installation of respondent No. 7 because of his controversial antecedents whereupon the said authority by his letter dated 11/7/2008 instructed the Block Elementary Educatio n Officer to take necessary steps. On 21/7/2008, this authority approved the Man aging Committee of the School headed by the petitioner as the President. Accordi ng to him, he assumed the charge of the office and in that capacity even a meeti ng held on 26/7/2008 in which important resolutions were adopted pertaining to t he affairs of the School. While the matter rested at that by the impugned order, the Managing Committee headed by the respondent No. 7 and earlier approved on 6 /7/2008 has been reinducted. None of the respondents has filed any counter. 6. Mr. Choudhury has in substance argued that the Managing Committe e with the petitioner as the President having been approved by the appropriate a uthority acting on the representation of the local people rejecting the candidat ure of the respondent No. 7, the impugned order being per se prompted by extrane ous considerations is liable to be interfered with. The learned Sr. Counsel has urged that as in terms of the approval of the Managing Committee headed by the p etitioner it had assumed office, the action of removing the said body without af fording any opportunity of hearing to it is ex-facie in violation of the princip les of natural justice and is liable to be adjudged illegal, null and void. 7. Mr. Kayum has argued that as in the general meeting held on 13/6 /2008, the respondent No. 7 has been duly elected as the President of the new Ma naging Committee, the impugned order cannot be faulted with. The induction of th e Managing Committee headed by the petitioner having been against the essence an d tenor of the proceedings in the said meeting, the impugned order was rightly p assed to restore the verdict in favour of the respondent No. 7 in a validly cond ucted democratic process vis-à-vis the office of the President of the Managing C ommittee. 8. The learned Counsel for the respondent No. 6, the Headmaster of the School has produced the proceeding book of the Managing Committee of the Sch ool. 9. The pleadings available and the arguments advanced have received the consideration of this Court. There is no wrangle at the bar that the School is governed by Assam Elementary Education (Provincialised) Rules, 1977, whereun der a Managing Committee constituted would be deemed to be recognized if the sam e is duly approved by the Deputy Inspector of Schools. Such a Managing Committee may be dissolved by the Deputy Inspector of Schools on the recommendation of th e Sub-Inspector of Schools, if judged from the facts furnished by the Sub-Inspec tor of Schools or as revealed in any enquiry, he is convinced that the continuan ce of the existing Managing Committee would be detrimental to the School. 9A. The Government of Assam in the Education (Elementary) Department , by notification No. AEE 522/2006/02 dated 17/6/2006 prescribed the norms for t he constitution and the powers and functions of School Managing Committee of Gov ernment, Provincialised/Recognised L.P., M.E. and M.E.M. Schools of the State. T hereunder for the selection of a President of the School Managing Committee, a m eeting has to be convened and adult members of the village/Tea Garden area/Ward/ N.C. area within fifteen days of receipt of the intimation from the competent au thority for the constitution thereof. The meeting must be attended by at least 1 00 or 10% of the total adult persons of the village/area concerned, whichever is less to be able to conduct the selection of the President or the Members of the School Managing Committee and has to be conducted by the V.E.C. President and i n his absence, any one of the Ex-officio members. The Selection as far as possib le is to be made in an unanimous manner but if there are more than one candidate for the office of the President, the candidate/candidates getting the support o f larger number persons present in the meeting shall be selected. The guidelines provide that if the selection cannot be done by raising of hands in support of the candidates, another date should be fixed for the meeting for selection of th e President and the Members and this meeting should be held in the presence of a n observer deputed by the Deputy Inspector of School/Block Elementary Education Officer. It is further required that the resolution adopted in the meeting shoul d clearly indicate the names of the persons selected as the President and the Me mbers and has to be signed by each and every person present in the meeting. The Block Elementary Education Officer has to examine the resolution regarding the s election of the President and Members and accordingly notify the Member Secretar y of the School Managing Committee in the proforma prescribed for this purpose. 10. The minutes of the general meeting held on 13/6/2008 in the prem ises of the School reveal that it was chaired by Haji Iman Ali and was attended amongst others by the departmental representatives and observers. Out of four ca ndidates who initially offered their candidature for the office of the President of the Committee two withdrew. As the supporters of the petitioner and the resp ondent No. 7 who remained in contention did not concede to the claim of majority of the other camp, the meeting decided to resolve the issue on a democratic bas is to which both the candidates agreed. The minutes recorded disclose that there after the petitioner and his supporters having left the meeting, elections could not be held. Though it was recorded that the respondent No. 7 commanded the maj ority in the attendance, the meeting left the issue relating to the President of the Committee to the concerned Departmental authority. The minutes of the meeti ng against the post of the President showed the names of both the candidates, th e petitioner and the respondent No. 7. The proceeding book as it appears was for warded to the Block Elementary Education Officer, Lahorighat, who made two endor sements on 6/7/2008 and 21/7/2008. Whereby by the first endorsement, it is not c lear as to whom he had approved to be the President of the Committee, by the sec ond, he concurred on the Presidentship of the petitioner. 11. The endorsements carry cancellations, overwriting and mutilation s without adequate initials, which reading in isolation reveal a faltering, and a vacillating mind unsure of the decision to be taken. Apart from the fact as to whether the issue could have been dealt with by the Block Elementary Education Officer, Lahorighat, as done to say the least, the facts unmistakably demonstrat e a highly irresponsible, lackadaisical and a cavalier approach of the said auth ority in the matter. It is only from the impugned letter that the sequence of ev ents is decipherable. According thereto, the said authority on 6/7/2008 had acco rded approval to the Managing Committee of the School with the respondent No. 7 as its President whereafter due to objections raised by some local people, the b ody headed by the petitioner was countenanced by canceling the earlier decision. The letter reveals that the impugned order of reinstalling the Managing Committ ee with the respondent No. 7 has been passed keeping in view the objections rais ed by the parents and local people and in the interest of public service. Thereb y the Committee approved on 21/7/2008 has been cancelled. 12. At the first place, the minutes of the meeting held on 13/6/2008 , according to this Court, do not disclose that an election, which was considere d to be indispensable, was held. The meeting also did not consider it expedient to elect the respondent No. 7 as the President of the new Managing Committee and left the issue to be decided by the concerned State authority. Obviously the pr ocedure observed in the instant case was not in compliance with the Government g uidelines stipulated and, therefore, cannot be sustained in law. In the opinion of this court, having regard to the attending facts and circumsta nces, the Block Elementary Education Officer, Lahorighat ought to have directed a fresh meeting to be convened for electing/selecting the President of the Manag ing Committee in compliance of the procedure prescribed. He instead resorted to a wholly fanciful and arbitrary mode of resolving the issue. The manner in which he had been approving and disapproving the Managing Committee of the School in the sequence as noticed hereinabove the process has been reduced to a farce. In the above view of the matter, the impugned order cannot be sustained and is thus interfered with. 13. In the normal course consequently, the Managing Committee with t he petitioner as its President ought to have been permitted to continue in offic e. However, the records disclose submission of representations by the members of the public of the locality, parents and guardians against both the Bodies, whic h impelled the Block Elementary Education Officer to change the course of his ap proval time and again. Having regard to the significant bearing of a duly consti tuted Managing Committee on the administrative and academic affairs of the Schoo l, this Court is of the view that in the interest of overall environment thereof , the incumbent of the office of the President of such body should be one duly e lected/selected therefor and thus acceptable to all concerned. This is logically feasible, if a fresh process is undertaken therefor in accordance with the exta nt rules and the government guidelines in this regard. 14. In the above factual premise, this petition, therefore, stands d isposed with a direction to the Director of Elementary Education, Assam, to caus e appropriate steps to be taken in accordance with law to ensure that a fresh ex ercise is initiated for the purpose of election/selection for the office of the President of the Managing Committee of Lochanabori M.V. School, Morigaon, at the earliest. As the petitioner has asserted on oath that his Body is still in offi ce which prima facie finds support from the minutes of the meeting of the Managi ng Committee held on 26/7/2008, this Court without prejudice to the rights and c ontentions of the parties and in the interest of administration of the affairs o f the School permits his Committee to continue in the office till the exercise a s ordered is accomplished. The Director of Elementary Education, Assam, would ta ke expeditious steps so much so that the process for election/selection of the M anaging Committee of the School is complete within a period of one month from th e date of receipt of the certified copy of this order. No costs.