A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday dismissed appeals filed by the State government against a single judge’s interim order directing the government to sanction provisionally Plus Two schools, courses, and additional batches as recommended by a six-member committee headed by the Director, Higher Secondary Education, ignoring the Cabinet subcommittee’s recommendations.
The Bench comprising Justice Antony Dominic and Justice Dama Seshadri Naidu while upholding the single judge’s interim order observed that it was without any material that the Cabinet subcommittee and the government had deviated from the recommendations made by the scrutiny committee which had to be implemented by the government based on earlier court directions in Plus Two cases.
The court confirmed the view of the single judge that the government had deviated from the earlier directives of a Division Bench by a dubious process of appointing a Cabinet subcommittee. The court observed that an order issued by a court could not be watered down except by a legislative process. The Bench pointed out that the proceedings adopted by the Cabinet subcommittee were illegal.
Even if it was assumed that the Cabinet subcommittee could ascertain the views of the people’s representatives on the educational need of the locality, files produced before the court should have shown the details. Referring to the Advocate General’s submission that the single judge order had resulted in the deletion of 285 higher secondary batches leading to denial of admissions to 14,250 students, the court observed that the State ‘‘cannot commit an illegality and seek to legitimise it projecting its exigencies before the court.’’
The court pointed out that the situation was created by the government. The blame could not be put at the door of the court. The Bench observed that in a democratic set up, the importance of the people’s representatives could not be questioned.
They might be consulted on the educational need of the areas and their view might deserve consideration. However, that did not mean that such consultation could be secretive. In fact, the material or the information gathered should have been placed in the file.
