High Court Intervenes: Private schools receive temporary recognition, await JKBOSE decision

The High Court of J&K and Ladakh has directed the authorities to comply with its direction regarding the accord of provisional recognition to several schools and also the release of Registration Return Forms(RRFs) concerning the students of these schools.

“In the meantime, the respondents sounded a caution to consider the compliance of the writ court direction as it obtains concerning the future of the students undergoing their education in the petitioner’s school,” a bench of Justice Rahul Bharti said while hearing a contempt plea.

The court ordered that the contempt petition be clubbed with other similar pending batches of petitions. While hearing petitions by the aggrieved schools, the court had earlier issued notice to the government for objections to the pleas.

In the meantime, subject to the objections from the side, the court said: “In the interest of justice and the context of the career of the students admitted and studying in the petitioner schools deems it fit and proper to direct the respondents to provisionally accord recognitions to the petitioners’ schools.”

The court directed the respondents (authorities) in particular J&K’s Secretary of School Education Department, the Director of School Education Kashmir and the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education to accord provisional recognitions to the petitioners’ schools and also release RRFs in favour of these schools in the manner as used to be provided and extended before the issuance of SO 177 dated April 15, 2022.

The recognition issue came up after the J&K government on April 15, 2022, amended the rules under the Education Act 2002 to provide for fresh guidelines relating to the use of land and building structures by private schools in Jammu and Kashmir.

The amendments were made by the Lieutenant Governor in the Jammu and Kashmir School Education Rules, 2010 in the exercise of the powers conferred by section 29 of the Jammu and Kashmir School Education Act, 2002.

The petitions underscore that the regime of law under which school education used to be governed in erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state (now UT) firstly under the J&K Board of School Education Act, 1975, in terms whereof, a Board of Secondary Education is an entity entrusted with statutory powers and authority to administer the various facets of school education in the Jammu and Kashmir and secondly by late coming of J&K School Education Act, 2002.

“Both acts have their respective defined regime but coincide concerning schools, be it government or private recognised,” they said.

They contend that as a consequence of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education Act, 1975, has come to be amended in terms of S O 3466 (E) dated October 5, 2020, issued by the Central Government whereby the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education Act, 1975 has been given amendments in different sections.

“In exercise of the power vested under section 29, the J&K government has come forward with S O 177 of 2022 dated April 15, 2022, thereby amending Jammu and Kashmir School Education Rules 2010. In terms of the amendment made about Jammu and Kashmir School Education Rules 2010, rule 4 has been amended with the addition of sub-rule 2 (B),” they said.

The petitioners plead that in terms of this amendment, Rule (2 B) requires a no objection certificate (NOC) regarding land use to be issued by the Revenue Department and the documents relating to possession of the land as regards the school premises for earning of recognition and permission or renewal of permission concerning an existing school.

The petitioners contend that they find themselves in a quandary in the context of the land site housing their respective school premises which in most cases is shamilat or khachari land.

They contend that how respective sites came to be appropriated to set up the school premises, the government authorities all along over time have been well aware of the site status of their schools and still the affiliations and recognitions came to be granted and revised from time to time without any demure from the end of the government at any point of time.

The petitioners submit that by SO 177 of 2022, they will be confronted with an existential crisis looming large as the concerned revenue agencies are not inclined to entertain any application for grant of requisite NOCs in their favour.

The petitioners’ further contention is that an imminent fallout of the operation of SO 177/2022 is that existing recognition of their schools for classes 9th 10th, 11th and 12th is going to be held up thereby exposing students’ careers to peril as they will not be able to earn issuance of registration return forms (RRFs) from the State Board of School Education for lack of renewal of the permission.

Before the court, they raised an important question of law in the context of identification of a school as an institution, correlation with the land site upon which a school premises is set up and tagging of renewal of permission of existing schools with land site status.

Meanwhile, The Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (BOSE) has asked private schools with expired affiliation to submit their extension case files for affiliation renewal.

The decision has come ahead of the scheduled meeting of the UT level Affiliation Committee of BOSE on January 29, 2024, and the board has extended a final opportunity to private high and higher secondary schools in J&K to get renewal of their registration.

An official notification issued by Joint Secretary (General, Kashmir Division) BOSE informed all the heads of private high and higher secondary schools in J&K that institutions with expired affiliations from previous academic sessions are granted a chance to resubmit their extension case files. “These schools include those whose extension requests were previously rejected for various reasons,” the notification reads.

It states that the concerned institutions should provide the necessary No Objection Certificates (NOCs), Safety Certificates, and the prescribed affiliation fee.

The deadline for submission of all the documentation and certificates has been set for January 24, 2024, and the submission process is to be completed through the official website www.jkbose.nic.in.

However, incomplete submission or documentation by the concerned academic institutions should render them ineligible for release of board related facilities for the current academic session 2023-2024, and the BOSE should be at liberty to proceed accordingly,” the notification reads.

The decision to extend and renew the registration of private schools has come at a time when the BOSE has already tagged “on roll” students of over 60 private schools across Kashmir, with nearby government schools for appearing in class 10th, 11th, and 12th annual examination.

The decision was taken as the J&K Board said that these 60 private academic institutions of Kashmir were operating on proprietary land with “expired affiliations”.

As per the BOSE order, the schools failed to furnish their extension case file which prompted the BOSE to tag the students of these institutions with the nearby government schools.

As per the BOSE order, the move was taken as the affiliation of these private academic institutions of Kashmir division expired in October 2021-2022 coupled with the failure of the concerned school managements to submit the requisite case files for further extension with necessary certificates, safety documents, in terms of standing rules and norms.

Apart from the 60 schools whose list was notified by the BOSE, it had withheld the release of registration renewal forms of premier educational institutions of Baramulla as well, who have been asked to get their students tagged with the nearby schools.

One such school is one of the oldest missionary schools operating in Baramulla from over 100 years.

The school was denied the registration forms of students despite the intervention of the office of Lieutenant Governor (LG).

The Under Secretary in the office of LG, Mayank Sharma sent an official communication to the Secretary Revenue Department J&K regarding the permission to register students and renewal of lease for St Joseph’s School Barmulla.

“This has reference to the enclosed application received in this Secretariat from Ivan Pereira, President, Diocese of Jammu-Srinagar Education Society, regarding the Permission to Register students and renewal of lease for St Joseph’s School Baramulla. In this context, I am desired to forward the said application for appropriate action, under norms,” the official communication reads.

An official functionary of the school said that all the efforts have failed as the management was informed by the Education Department that one school alone cannot be given any relaxation. We were informed that the department finds some way out for such good schools who are in the same situation. But now the students will have to appear through government school,” the school functionary said.

Meanwhile, the J&K High Court has issued a notice to Chairman JKBOSE, Chairman JKBOSE Parikshat Singh Manhas for not complying to the previous orders issued by the Court regarding the release of registration forms of the students.

“In a pending writ petition WP(C) 2975/2023, this court by virtue of an order dated November 18 of 2023 came to direct the writ respondents to provisionally accord recognition and affiliation to the petitioner’s school and also to release the Registration Return Forms with respect to the students of the petitioner’s schools,” the High Court notice reads.

“The learned counsel for the petitioner herein submits that the said direction of this court has gone begging as the respondents herein have not bothered to act in compliance to the direction so given by this Court and hence, a case for non-compliance of the court direction is made out,” it reads.

“The petitioner to furnish registered postal covers within a period of seven days whereupon the Registrar Judicial, Srinagar to issue notice to the respondents. List along with CCP(S) Nos. 1/2024, 2/2024, 5/2024, 6/2024, 7/2024, 8/2024, 9/2024, 10/2024 and CCP(S) 11/2024 on February 28 of 2024,” the notice reads.

It reads that in the meantime, the respondents are sounded a caution to consider the compliance of the writ court direction as it obtains with respect to the future of the students undergoing their education in the petitioner’s schools.