HC rejects parent’s challenge to school policy of buying supplies from specific vendor

Bombay HC dismisses parent's petition against school's vendor policy, citing lack of necessary parties and unclear locus standi for the academic year.

Mumbai: The Bombay high court (HC) recently dismissed a petition filed by a concerned parent challenging a school’s policy mandating the purchase of school supplies from a specific vendor at allegedly inflated prices.

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Pramod Sitaram Patil, a member of the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) of the New Horizon Public School, Panvel, had approached the court seeking to overturn circulars issued by the school. These circulars, dated March 21 and 23, 2024, respectively, instructed students to procure textbooks, notebooks, and stationery exclusively from designated vendors.

Patil contended that the specified vendors charged exorbitant rates compared to books issued by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). He also argued that the school prohibited the use of second-hand books, contrary to guidelines from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) issued in a circular dated April 19, 2017.

Responding to the petition, the school, represented by its principal and chairman, asserted its status as a private unaided minority linguistic educational institution. They argued that the petition lacked representation from the majority of parents and that the academic year had already commenced with the majority of students having purchased books.

The high court, comprising justices A S Chandurkar and Jitendra Jain, dismissed the petition on several grounds. Firstly, they highlighted the absence of necessary parties, including the trust and its trustees. Secondly, they noted that Patil, representing only himself, failed to demonstrate a clear locus standi for the academic year in question.

The court, however, refrained from ruling on the legality of the school’s policy against commercial activities, citing the absence of the institution as a party in the case. They also pointed out that the CBSE circular cited by Patil had been nullified by a previous Delhi high court decision.