Case: J. Mohapatra and Company and Another Vs. State of Orissa and Another

The destiny of a nation rests with its youth. As we shape its mind and mould its character, so do we fashion our countrys progress, prestige an d prosperity. Wordsworth truly said, "The Child is father of the Man", and Alexander Pope was equally right in saying in the first of his Moral Essays-Epistle I to Sir Richard Temple, Lord Cobham:"Tis Education forms the common mind, Just as the Twig is bent, the Trees inclined."It is, therefore, essential for a country to have a proper educational system. The general pattern of education in our country is, however, the traditional one of studying from prescribed text-book s, attending lectures based on such books and answering questions in examinations set from them. The study of text-books is often supplemented by reading books which are kept in school and college libraries. These books may be on various subjects-literature, history, art, science, geography, and even works of fiction. General reading is as essential for a student as it is for any man, for it is reading which broadens the mind and widens the horizon. It was for this reason that Bacon said in his essay, Of Studies, "Reading maketh a full man", General reading is, therefore, as important as studying from prescribed text-books if the students of today are to become worthy citizens of tomorrowThe selection of these books-both text-books and books for general reading to be kept in school and college libraries-is thus a matter of vital importance to the imparting of proper education. Such selection must necessarily depend upon the ability and fitness for the purpose of those who are charged with that responsibility. This question has come up for our consideration in this Appeal by Special Leave from the judgment and order of the High Court of Orissa dismissing, with no order as to costs, the petition under Article 226 of the Constitution filed by the Appellants.There does not exist any statutory rule or regulation in the State of Orissa prescribing the method for selection of books for general reading to be kept in school and college libraries. The State Government, however, periodically issues administrative instructions in the form of Government Resolutions constituting committees and laying down the procedure for selecting books. Broadly speaking, three committees are constituted, namely, an Assessment Sub- Committee, a Distribution Sub-Committee and a Purchase Committee. Government officials as well as non-officials are appointed as members on these committees and sub-committees. E ach year the State Government makes available a specific sum for purchase of books for libraries to be distributed among individual schools and colleges. The procedure followed is that each year the Member-Secretary of the Purchase Committee calls upon publishers and authors by advertisements given in local newspapers to submit books for consideration. The Assessment Sub-Committee then considers the books so submitted and thereafter recommends a list of books which, according to it, are suitable for general reading by school and college students. The Purchase Committee considers the recommendations made by the Assessment Sub-Committee and prepares a final list. It is open to the State Government to reject any book out of the list so submitted without giving any reason and the decision of the State Government regarding the assessment, selection, purchase and distribution of books is made final. Though a separate Government Resolution is issued each y ear, by and large the same pattern and procedure are maintained and only a few committee and sub-committee members are changed and new members appointed in their place. The selection of books for the years 1980, 1981 and 1982 was made in this fashion. Admittedly, some of the members of the Assessment Sub- Committee were themselves authors of books and some of the books written by them were selected and purchased. The annual grant sanctioned by the State Government for this purpose for the years 1980, 1981 and 1982 was Rs. 5, 00, 000. So far as the year 1982 was concerned, this annual grant fell short of the requirement by almost 50 per cent. Accordingly the Purchase Committee restricted the list of 466 books out of 1, 718 books submitted for selection, but as further funds became available the Government decided to select more books and accordingly constituted a Committee under the Chairmanship of Director of Public Instruction (Schools), Orissa.This Committee selected a supplementary list of 105 books out of the said 1, 718 books which had been submitted for selectionThere were unprecedented floods and cyclones in the months of August and September 1982 and a large number of schools and colleges suffered in this calamity and the libraries of many schools and colleges were washed away. The Central Government thereupon, as part of its relief programme for the State, gave grants to the State during February and March 1983 aggregating to Rs. 45, 00, 000 for the purchase of books for the libraries of non-governmental schools and colleges. This was a time-bound grant to be utilized by June 1983. For this reason, the State Government felt that it was not feasible to ad opt for selection of books the procedure usually followed as it took a considerable time and, therefore, took a decision on April 5, 1983, to utilize the grant made by Central Government in purchasing books out of the books selected for the years 1980, 1981 and 1982  the said supplementary list of 105 books. Accordingly, a meeting was convened on April 13, 1983, to consider the selection of books to be purchased. There is some controversy with respect to who convened the s aid meeting, who were present at that meeting and what transpired in that meeting, but we find it unnecessary to go into this controversy. Suffice it to say that books out of those selected for the years 1980, 1981 and 1982  the said supplementary list were selected at this meetingThereupon the Appellants who are publishers filed a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution against the State of Orissa and the Director of Public Instruction, Orissa, to quash the lists of books selected for the years 1980, 1981 and 1982  the State Governments said decision with respect to purchasing books out of the cyclone and flood relief grant made by the Central Government inter alia on the ground of bias on the part of some of the members of the Assessment Sub-Committee whose books were submitted for selection. This writ petition was heard along with a similar writ petition filed by the Orissa Publishers and Book Sellers Association. The High Court by a common judgment delivered on August 10, 1983, dismissed both these writ petitions and made no order as to the costs thereof. It is against this judgment and order of the Orissa High Court that the Appellants have approached this Court by way of Appeal by Special Leave.

Court's reasoning:
It would, therefore, be unfair to prohibit p ublishers from submitting books for selection merely because they had at one time published a book written by one of the members of the committee or sub-committee concerned with the selection of books The number of publishers is large but good publishers are few and such publishers will, therefore, be publishing the majority of books. To lay down such a guide-line would be to eliminate a large number of books which may be worthy of selection.In the light of the above discuss ion we lay down the following guide-lines to be adopted by the State Government, governmental authorities and all committees constituted for the selection to textbooks as also books for libraries of educational institutions whether such committee be called a committee or sub-committee or be described by some other nomenclature:(1) The committee should not consist merely of Government officials or have a preponderance of Government officials on it, for Government officials, with few exceptions, have by and large only administrative experience. In addition to Government officials, therefore, the committee should also consist of men eminent in the particular fields of knowledge for which the books are to be s elected. Non-official members should not be appointed as a matter of political considerations or on party lines but should be appointed only on merit(2) No member of the committee, a book written or edited by whom is submitted either by himself or his publisher for approval or selection; should continue to remain a member of the committee. If he is a non-official member, he should submit his resignation from the committee on this ground. If he is a Government official, he should intimate to the Government or the authority appointing him on that committee the fact that a book written or edited by him has been submitted for approval or selection and the Government or the concerned authority should substitute in place of such member another person, whether official or non- official, none of whose books has been submitted for approval or selection(3) No publisher of books or his representative should be appointed a member of the committee or be allowed to remain present at or participate in the deliberations of the committee.The guide-lines we have laid down above are not intended to be exhaustive but contain the bare essentials of what is required. We are conscious that no guide-lines laid down by a court can ensure the selection of really worthwhile books. This must necessarily depend upon the social consciousness and moral fibre of the members of the committee. Similarly, no judgment of a court can eliminate the evil of behind-the-scene influence. Here, one must perforce trust the sense of responsibility of the members of the committee in the discharge of the important duty with which they are entrusted.