HC tells LG to develop framework to enforce orders of Delhi School Tribunal

The Delhi High Court has instructed the lieutenant governor to establish an enforcement mechanism for the Delhi School Tribunal's orders within three months.

New Delhi

Disposing of the petition, the court expressed displeasure over the government’s continued failure to frame rules or establish a legal mechanism despite earlier directions. (Representative photo)

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed Delhi’s lieutenant governor (LG) to take steps towards developing an effective enforcement mechanism—either by framing rules or adopting other measures—to ensure compliance with orders passed by the Delhi School Tribunal, preferably within three months.

Disposing of the petition, the court expressed displeasure over the government’s continued failure to frame rules or establish a legal mechanism despite earlier directions.

“How can such a situation be permitted to go on? You have to strengthen the tribunal by either making the rules or whatever mechanism which is legally permissible and possible. What’s the difficulty in empowering the tribunal? Such a situation in our opinion warrants immediate attention of the authorities concerned, providing adequate mechanism to ensure compliance of the orders passed by the tribunal,” a bench, comprising chief justice DK Upadhay and justice Tejas Karia, said.

The Delhi School Tribunal is a statutory tribunal constituted under the Delhi School Education Act, 1973 (“1973 Act”) and is empowered to hear appeals filed by employees of recognised private schools against orders pertaining to dismissal, removal, reduction in rank, or termination of service.

The court issued the direction while hearing a petition filed by NGO Justice for All, to frame and notify the necessary rules for the smooth functioning of the Delhi School Tribunal and for its effective implementation.

The petition, argued by advocates Khagesh B Jha and Shikha Sharma Bagga, contended that the present legal framework did not permit an aggrieved employee of a private school to initiate execution proceedings for an order passed by the tribunal.

The bench observed that while the 1973 Act empowers the tribunal to hear appeals against actions taken by recognised private schools against their employees, neither the Act nor the rules appeared to provide an effective mechanism to ensure compliance with the tribunal’s orders.

It further noted that although a full bench of the Delhi High Court, in August 2010, had suggested that the government frame rules for the effective implementation of the tribunal’s directions, no such rules seemed to be “in sight” even after more than a decade and a half.

The bench said, “We hope and expect that the need for having an execution mechanism shall be considered by the appropriate authorities and adequate steps shall be taken to provide for such a mechanism. We hope appropriate decision and action warranted will be completed as early as possible preferably within three months from today. We dispose of the petition with a direction to the LG/administrator to consider the issue raised in the petition and take appropriate steps to address the same by framing appropriate rules or evolving any other legally permissible mechanism.”

The court, in its order, rejected the Delhi government’s contention that sections 20 and 27 of the 1973 Act provided adequate enforcement by allowing takeover of school management for non-compliance and penal action against school managers, and that the tribunal could enforce its orders by routinely hearing execution appeals.

The bench said that a tribunal must operate within the four corners of its statute and, unless the statute provided for execution, it could not be permitted simply as a matter of “practice.” It added that the existence of a penal provision could not be equated with an effective mechanism of executing the orders passed by the tribunal.