New Delhi, May 21 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Wednesday held the Air Force School at Bamrauli in Allahabad was not a state controlled and services of its contract employees couldn't be regularised.

Heading a three-judge bench, Justice Abhay S Oka, in a 2:1 verdict, upheld the verdict of the Allahabad High Court's division bench that the school was not a "state" within the meaning of Article 12.

Article 12 essentially outlines which entities are considered "state" for the purpose of guaranteeing these rights, encompassing the central and state governments, local authorities, aside from other bodies under government control.

“It is not shown how the IAF headquarters has any control over the management of the said school. Although some funds may have originated from the Army Welfare Society, it cannot be said that the state or the IAF has any control, let alone all-pervasive control, over the school," Justice Oka authoring the majority opinion, also for Justice Augustine George Masih, said.

Moreover, the court said, society was not governed by any statutory rules.

The majority verdict was unable to find any fault with the view taken by the high court.

“The relationship between the appellants and the said school is in the realm of private contract. Assuming that there was a breach of private contract, the same does not involve any public law element …Therefore, there is no merit in the appeals, and the same are dismissed. We, however, make it clear that other remedies, if any, of the appellants are kept open,” it said.

Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah, part of the bench, disagreed with the majority verdict and held the Air Force School performed a public function like imparting education and was under the Indian Air Force's significant control through its serving officers who hold ex-officio roles in its governing society.

The case arose from appeals filed by two former teachers — Dileep Kumar Pandey and Sanjay Kumar Sharma — against their termination and seeking redress through writ petitions.

The majority verdict noted the school was managed by the Indian Air Force Educational and Cultural Society, a private society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.

It found insufficient evidence to demonstrate all-pervasive control by the Indian Air Force over the school's daily administration.

The Education Code under which the school operates lacks statutory backing and does not confer any public law status, it said.

"The employment relationship between the appellants and the school falls within the private contractual domain and does not warrant the invocation of writ jurisdiction. The relationship between the appellants and the said school is in the realm of private contract,” the majority judgment said.

Dismissing the appeals of the teachers, the court said they could explore other legal remedies.

Justice Amanullah, in his dissent, said the school catered to the children of the Air Force personnel often stationed in remote areas, indicating a governmental purpose.

The committee running the school comprised serving IAF officers, evidencing dominant and functional control by a state agency, he said.

The judge pointed out several such schools operated within IAF bases, benefiting from state resources and facilities.

"The school has been established primarily to impart education which is a ‘public function’… juxtaposed with the dominant and all-pervasive control exercised on the School through the Committee by serving officers of the IAF,” Justice Amanullah said, holding writ jurisdiction ought to be available. PTI SJK SJK AMK AMK