TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2010 (5) TMI 798
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....classes up to the 12th standard in place of pre-degree courses. Those colleges which did not have any classes till the High school level were to be allowed to run High Schools and were also to be allowed Higher Secondary courses. Notice inviting applications from the management of schools, both government as well as private, and from colleges were issued for the first time for the academic year 1997-1998 vide notification dated 2.04.97. 5. The policy decision of the Government in this regard was upheld by the High Court by judgment dated 29.8.2002 in W.A.No.2716/2000. 6. The mode of implementation of this policy was the subject matter of a series of litigations where the Respondents were accused of discrimination. The Appellant before us has a similar grievance. 7. Writ Petition(C) No. 11167 OF 2006 was filed by the appellant challenging the non-sanctioning of the Higher secondary courses to its school. The other connected Writ Petitions which were disposed of by the impugned judgment were filed by the management or the teachers of the neighbouring schools, challenging the grant of a High school to the Appellant. 8. The Appellant had been applying for Higher Secondary courses e....
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....s. But, High Court dismissed the said application, on the ground that the aggrieved persons may approach the Court. 14. Thereupon a Writ Petition was filed by the appellant seeking mainly the relief that the High Court may issue a writ in the nature of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction directing the respondents to sanction an aided Higher Secondary school to the appellant herein, as was done in the case of other aided college managements, so that the higher secondary school can commence functioning during the academic year 2006-07 itself. 15. Alleging discrimination in general, it was the specific contention of the Appellant in the Writ Petition that while other managements were being granted High Schools and Higher Secondary Schools simultaneously or immediately, one after the other, the appellant herein was not sanctioned Higher Secondary School after the sanction of the High School. It also prayed that the order of 08.10.03 by which the Government had already granted Higher Secondary courses to the appellant may be implemented. 16. The question before the High Court was whether the Higher Secondary school was to be sanctioned to the Appellant as per t....
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....urt relied on a decision of the Court of Appeal in R. v. Cambridge Health Authority, ex p B [(1995)2 All ER 129] where the Court of Appeal refused to interfere with the validity of a decision of the Health Authority of not alloting funds for the treatment of a child. High Court also referred to the decision in the case of State of H.P. and another v. Umed Ram Sharma [(1986) 2 SCC 68]. 20. The respondent No. 4 before this Court moved an application for impleadment as a necessary party in the W.P.(C) No. 11167 OF 2006 before the High Court and which was allowed by the High Court. In its Counter Affidavit, the Respondent No. 4 had challenged the Writ Petition on the ground that the sanctioning of the High School to the Appellant itself is illegal and has been made in violation of the Rules in Chapter V of the Kerela Education Rules. It was also contended that the sanction of the Higher Secondary school to the Appellant would prejudice other schools in the nearby area and would also not be necessary as the number of existing schools are enough for that area. This issue was heard with the other connected Writ Petitions. 21. In the connected writ petitions, the main challenge was....
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.... and during the pendency of the writ petition came the revised policy of the government. In that policy, it has been made very clear that there is no need to sanction or upgrade government or aided schools in the normal course. 25. The High Court should have appreciated the facts of the case and come to the conclusion that the appellant's case does not come under the normal course. But the High Court refused to do so and took, as noted above, a mechanical approach. 26. The High Court in support of its decision relied on the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Cambridge Health Authority (supra). That was a case of refusal to allocate funds for the treatment of a minor girl who was 10= years old. The child was suffering from non-Hodgkins Lynphona with common acute Lymphoblastic Leukaenia. It was thought that no further treatment was possible except giving the child palliative drugs. The child's father sought further medical opinion and experts advised a second bone marrow transplant, which could only be administered privately and not in a National Health Service hospital, and that too with 10 to 20% chances of success. In the background of these facts the child's f....
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....rk in the course of the financial year. 31. The superintending engineer before the High Court gave an estimate that for the purposes of the widening of the road, Rs. 95,000/- was required but only Rs. 40,000/- was available in the course of the current financial year. Before this Court, Government challenged those directions of the High Court questioning the High Court's jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution to direct the State Government to allot particular funds for expenditure in addition to the funds already allotted and thus regulate the residual financial matters of the State. 32. The Government raised questions on the basis of Articles 202-207 of the Constitution pointing out the Government's exclusive domain in financial matters as indicated in those articles. The three judge bench of this court considered the matter in detail and ultimately upheld the High Court's directions as not transgressing the limit, in view of the provisions of Articles 38, 19 and 21 of the Constitution. [See para 39, pg. 82-83] 33. Therefore, this decision does not support the conclusion reached by the High Court in this case. On the other hand, the decision in Umed Ram ....
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....Wade & C.F. Forsyth: Administrative Law, 10 th Edition, page 522-23). 40. De Smith in Judicial Review, Sixth Edition has also acknowledged the contribution of Lord Mansfield which led to the development of law on Writ of Mandamus. The speech of Lord Mansfield in R Vs. Blooer, (1760) 2 Burr, runs as under: "a prerogative writ flowing from the King himself, sitting in his court, superintending the police and preserving the peace of this country".(See De Smith's Judicial Review 6th Edition, Sweet and Maxwell page 795 para 15-036. 41. Almost a century ago, Darling J quoted the observations in Rex Vs. The Justices of Denbighshire, (1803) 4 East, 142, in The King Vs. The Revising Barrister etc. {(1912) 3 King's Bench 518} which explains the wide sweep of Mandamus. The relevant observations are: "..Instead of being astute to discover reasons for not applying this great constitutional remedy for error and misgovernment, we think it our duty to be vigilant to apply it in every case to which, by any reasonable construction, it can be made applicable...." (See page 529) 42. At page 531 of the report, Channell, J said about Mandamus: "It is most useful jurisdiction which e....
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....ity of the exercise of the prerogative were decided at a time when the Courts took a generally rather circumscribed view of their ability to review Ministerial statutory discretion. The decision of the House of Lords in Padfield's case (1968 AC 997) marks the emergence of the interventionist judicial attitude that has characterized many recent judgments." 47. In the Constitution Bench judgment of this Court in Life Insurance Corporation of India vs. Escorts Limited and others, [(1986) 1 SCC 264], this Court expressed the same opinion that in Constitution and Administrative Law, law in India forged ahead of the law in England (para 101, page 344). 48. This Court has also taken a very broad view of the writ of Mandamus in several decisions. In the case of The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Gian Prakash, New Delhi and another Vs. K.S. Jagannathan and another - (AIR 1987 SC 537), a three-Judge Bench of this Court referred to Halsbury's Laws of England, Fourth Edition, Volume I paragraph 89 to illustrate the range of this remedy and quoted with approval the following passage from Halsbury about the efficacy of Mandamus: "..is to remedy defects of justice and a....