Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena
High Court directed Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena to hear the views of a private unaided school on the allegations of administrative and financial irregularities before taking over the management of the schools.
Power in the hands of Lieutenant Governor
Justice C. Hari Shankar said that since the power to take over a school under the law is vested in the Lieutenant Governor as the administrator, the permission for hearing has to be granted by him and not by the Directorate of Education which has issued the show cause notice to the school. It is also needless to say that personal hearing can be permitted only by the authority which has to take the decision.
He said a Division Bench of this Court held that the power to take over the management of a school is vested only in the Lieutenant Governor as the administrator, and not in the Directorate of Education (DoE). The court said that personal hearing will be allowed as per the convenience of the Lieutenant Governor. The court said it would be up to the petitioner to make himself available and not seek any adjournment.
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Petition filed by private unaided recognized senior secondary school
The petitioner is a private unaided recognized senior secondary school. On September 13, 2021, a show cause notice was issued by the DoE for various management and administration anomalies as well as financial and other irregularities in its functioning. In this, an attempt has been made to find out why action should not be taken to take over the management of the school under the Delhi School Education Act.
The petitioner, represented by advocate Kamal Gupta, argued that though the DOE agreed to allow a hearing before deciding on the issue, there is no question of allowing a personal hearing by any authority other than the Lieutenant Governor, who alone Only they can decide to take the school management into their own hands. ,
The court said that since the decision to take over a running school is an extreme step which has civil consequences, an opportunity of personal hearing is mandatory before taking such a decision.
