Case: Executive Committee of Meerut College, Meerut and Others Vs. Vice Chancellor, Meerut University, Meerut and Another

room for doubt that he is disqualified from being chosen as a member of the Management of the Meerut College, because his brother receives remuneration for the work done by him as a Lecturer in the Law Department of the College.Shri S.N. Kacker, who appears on behalf of the appellants, relies on the Proviso to section 39 and argues that cases in which remuneration is accepted by a relative in his capacity as a teacher are exempted from the operation of section 39 and since, Appellant 3s brother accepts remuneration from the college for the work which he does as a teacher in that College. Appellant 3 is not disqualified for being chosen as a member of the Management of the College. This submission is only superficially attractive. By reason of the Proviso, the disqualification provided for by section 39 will not apply "to the acceptance of any remuneration by a teacher as such". What the proviso means is that a teacher shall not be disqualified for being chosen as a member of the Management of the College for the reason that he accepts remuneration from the College in his capacity as a teacher. The object of the proviso is to enable the teachers of a college to become members of the Management of the college The exception carved out by the proviso cannot apply to cases like the present one in which the person elected to the Executive Committee of the college is not himself a teacher but whose relative is a teacher. Teachers are saved from the disqualification, not their relatives. In this case, Appellant 3s brother will not incur the disqualification merely because he accepts remuneration as a teacher. He is protected by the Proviso. The disqualification is incurred by Appellant 3 because his brother, who is a teacher, accepts remuneration for the work done by him for the College. Appellant 3 is not protected by the proviso.4. The proviso, thus interpreted, will give meaning to the provisions of Statute 13.05 of the Meerut University First Statutes, 1977, which were Published by a Notification dated April 20, 1977. Those statutes were framed by the Government of U.P. in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 50 of the Act. Statute 13.05 provides by clause (b) that the constitution of the Management of every college shall provide that "Twenty-five per-centum of the members of the Management are teachers (including the Principal)". The Statutes were framed after the Act was passed and must reasonably be assumed to have been framed in furtherance of the provisions of the Act. The object of the proviso to section 39 is to exclude teachers as a class from the operation of the provision under which persons, who accept remuneration for the work done for a college, are disqualified from being chosen as members of the Management of that college. Clause (b) of Statute 13.05 effectuates that purpose by providing that 25 percent of the members of the Management of a college shall be teachers. Recent reforms in the sphere of education lay considerable emphasis on the association of teachers with the management of institutions whose success depends largely upon their performance. That is why the proviso to section 39 gives protection to the teachers and Statute 13.05 makes it obligatory that 25 percent of the members of Management of a College shall be teachers. Granting protection to relatives of teachers, as canvassed by the appellants, is foreign to the very object of the proviso. Teachers can and ought to be on the management bodies of educational institutions. Their relatives are disqualified from being so chosen or appointed, the reason being that such relatives should not become a handy medium for distributing favours and patronage to the teachers.We find that by a judgment dated August 26, 1981 given in Civil Misc. Writ No. 11147 of 1980, N D. Ojha, J. of the Allahabad High Court has taken the same view as we have, of the proviso to s.39. We affirm that view.5. We do not also see any substance in the appellants submission that section 39 of the Act is prospective in its operation in the sense that if a person was a teacher prior to the date when the Act came into force, his relative will not be disqualified even if he is elected after the coming into force of the Act. While interpreting a statute, we must have regard to the substance of the matter and hypertechnical considerations should be ruled out. Then again, the interpretation should, as far as possible, further the object of the statute. The mere circumstance that section 39 uses a verb in the present tense, namely, "accepts", will not justify the conclusion that the section will apply to those cases only wherein the remuneration is accepted by the teacher for the first time after the Act came into force. The section, on its terms, must apply even to those cases in which a teacher has been accepting remuneration prior to the date on which the Act came into force, with the result that the relative of such a teacher cannot be chosen as a member of the management of the college. The judgment dated August 12, 198 1 rendered by a Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court in Civil Misc. Writ No. 8647 of 1980 which takes the view that section 39 is prospective in operation in the sense projected by the learned counsel for the appellants is, with respect, not correct.6. We are informed by Shri Kacker that a Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court has taken a view of the proviso to section 39 contrary to that of Ojha J. Counsel urges that the Vice-Chancellor and Chancellor of the University were bound by the ruling of the Division Bench. We are not sure that there is any contrary judgment of the High Court on the interpretation of the Proviso. If there is any such judgment, it is not good law.Fo

Decision (1 = appeal accepted, 0 = rejected): 0

Explanation:
0[ds]We do not also see any substance in the appellants submission that section 39 of the Act is prospective in its operation in the sense that if a person was a teacher prior to the date when the Act came into force, his relative will not be disqualified even if he is elected after the coming into force of the Act. While interpreting a statute, we must have regard to the substance of the matter and hypertechnical considerations should be ruled out. Then again, the interpretation should, as far as possible, further the object of the statute. The mere circumstance that section 39 uses a verb in the present tense, namely, "accepts", will not justify the conclusion that the section will apply to those cases only wherein the remuneration is accepted by the teacher for the first time after the Act came into force. The section, on its terms, must apply even to those cases in which a teacher has been accepting remuneration prior to the date on which the Act came into force, with the result that the relative of such a teacher cannot be chosen as a member of the management of the college. The judgment dated August 12, 198 1 rendered by a Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court in Civil Misc. Writ No. 8647 of 1980 which takes the view that section 39 is prospective in operation in the sense projected by the learned counsel for the appellants is, with respect, notare informed by Shri Kacker that a Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court has taken a view of the proviso to section 39 contrary to that of Ojha J. Counsel urges that the Vice-Chancellor and Chancellor of the University were bound by the ruling of the Division Bench. We are not sure that there is any contrary judgment of the High Court on the interpretation of the Proviso. If there is any such judgment, it is not good law.For these reasons we dismiss the appeal. Parties will bear their own costs We hope that the vacancy caused by the disqualification incurred by appellant 3, Shri J.D. Singhal, will be filled at an early date in accordance with the provisions of the Act and the Statutes.