(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Justice P R Ramachandra Menon had directed the government to sanction provisionally Plus Two schools courses and additional batches only as per the list prepared by the panel.In a big blow to the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government the Kerala High Court on Monday rejected its appeal against a single judge’s interim order quashing political allocation of higher secondary batches.
A division bench comprising Justice Antony Dominic and Justice Dama Seshadri Naidu has directed the government to conduct admissions strictly according to the single judge’s order limiting new batches to 595 schools recommended by a six-member committee headed by director of Higher Secondary Education.
Justice P R Ramachandra Menon had directed the government to sanction provisionally Plus Two schools courses and additional batches only as per the list prepared by the panel. The court quashed the batches allotted in 104 schools on the basis of the recommendation of the cabinet sub-committee.
The bench said the interim order of the single judge was passed on the prima facie satisfaction that the decision-making process was ‘vitiated’ and therefore it was endorsing that view. The court also said that the government decision was taken in deviation from earlier judgements of the court.
The government had sought a stay on the operation of the single judge’s interim order contending that the cabinet subcommittee had the power to scrutinize and overrule the recommendations made by the expert panel. The appeal argued that the Council of Ministers and the government were “supreme authority in relation to a scrutiny committee”.
The latter’s recommendations need not be accepted in its entirety by the Cabinet committee. If the cabinet committee felt that there were “cogent reasons” for differing with the scrutiny committee’s views it could do so.
However the court was not satisfied with the materials provided by the government in support of its decision to sanction batches outside the list of the expert panel. They did not specify how the local needs were ascertained and who had ascertained them.
The government’s plea that the single judge’s order would affect over 80000 students was also dismissed by the court saying that the government itself was responsible for the mess and it could have been avoided had it complied with its earlier direction.
Education Minister P K Abdu Rabb said that the government did not consider the verdict as a setback. He said that it was not the first time that the court was correcting the government. The minister said that the government would study the verdict and decide the future course of action.
The opposition has termed it as a personal setback for Chief Minister Oommen Chandy as he had taken personal responsibility for the decision. Former education minister and Communist Party of India (Marxist) politburo member M A Baby has therefore demanded his resignation.
newskhaleejtimes.com For more news from Khaleej Times follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes and on Twitter at khaleejtimes Follow khaleejtimes ->
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.