HC gives school managements right to shut

The management of a school or college has the right to decide to close the institution, the Bombay High Court ruled last week.

The management of a school or college has the right to decide to close the institution, the Bombay High Court ruled last week .

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The court has said that the state government can only impose certain ‘reasonable restrictions’ on the management to ensure students and employees are not left in the lurch.

“However, the power [of the state government] can be only of confirming, assenting or consenting to the proposal [of closure] by imposing such conditions, which would be necessary to safeguard the interests of the permanent employees and the student community,” the court said.

The government can, therefore, intervene only to ensure the institution does not shut down until existing and prospective students get admissions to other institutions.

The court has said the government cannot simply reject a proposal to close a school or college or keep it on hold indefinitely. It can take over an institution until the conditions it has laid down are met with.

The court was dealing with a bunch of petitions pertaining to Laxmi Education Society, which had decided to close down its junior colleges — Sir. M. V. College of Science and Commerce, Seth L. U. Jhaveri College of Arts and Shri Chinai College of Commerce and Economics — in Andheri (east). The management said it was finding it difficult to run the colleges after the state government discontinued its non-salary grants.