Powlett, Political Agent and Superintendent of the Kota Rai on the Part of the Government of India Vs. Girdhari Das - Court Judgment

Excerpt:
parties to a suit - political agent--superintendent of raj. - cantonments act[c.a. no. 41/2006]. section 346 & cantonment fund (servants rules, 1937, rules 13, 14 & 15: [h.l. gokhale, ag. cj, p.v. hardas, naresh h. patil, r.m. borde & r.m. savant, jj] jurisdiction of school tribunal constituted under maharashtra employees of private schools (conditions of service) regulations act, (3 of 1978) held, school run by the cantonment board is a primary school and it is not a school recognised by any such board comparable to the divisional board or the state board. the school tribunal constituted under section 8 of the maharashtra act cannot entertain appeals filed under section 9 by the employees working in schools which are established and administered by the cantonment board. teacher employed in the school run by cantonment board being covered under rule 2 (f) of the cantonment fund servants rules, 1937 can file appeal under rules 13, 14 and 15 to authorities provided therein against any order imposing any penalties etc. [deolali cantonment board v usha devidas dongre, 1993 mah. lj 74; 1993 lab ic 1858 overruled]. -- maharashtra employees of private schools (conditions of service) regulations act, 1978 [act no. 3/1978]. sections 9 & 2(21): jurisdiction of school tribunal whether a school run by cantonment board is not a recognised school within the meaning of section 2(21)? - held, the act is enacted to regulate recruitments and conditions of employees in certain private schools and provisions of the act shall apply to all private schools in the state whether receiving any grant-in-aid from the state government or not. private school is defined in section 2(2) of the act as a recognised school established or administered by a management other than the government or a local authority. recognised means recognised by director, the divisional board or state board. thus as far as the first part of the definition of being recognised is concerned, it includes, as stated above, four directors, the divisional boards and four state boards. the second part of this definition which comes after the comma refers to any officer authorised by director or by any of such boards. the question to be examined is whether school run by the cantonment board could be said to be one run by any such boards. a private school has to be recognised by the state or the divisional board or by any officer authorised in that behalf. when this phrase namely: recognised by any officer authorised by the director or by any such boards, is included in the latter part of section 2(21), such boards will be of the level of the state board or the divisional board. the boards referred to in the definition of the word recognised means the boards which deal with education at levels other than that of the level at which primary schools are operating. thus for being recognised, the school has to be recognised by the board and therefore, it has to be operating at a higher level i.e., secondary level. section 2(21) of the act defines the term recognised. the last clause therein is by any of such boards. the term such is defined in oxford dictionary as of the kind or degree indicated or implied by the context. therefore, the term such board will have to mean a divisional board of or the level of divisional board or the state board. the divisional board holds the examination and issues certificates after 10th and 12th standard examinations. the state board advises the state government on policy matters, ensures uniform pattern of secondary and higher secondary education, lays down principles for determining syllabi, prescribes text books, etc. the cantonment board does not discharge any of such duties nor is there any other board or body under the cantonments act discharging any such duties. the duties of the cantonment board are laid down in section 62 and amongst others, clause (xiv) lays down the duties of establishing and maintaining or assisting primary schools only. the cantonment board is not required to enter into the area of secondary education. therefore, school run by the cantonment board is a primary school and it is not a school recognised by any such board comparable to the divisional board or the state board. that being the position, it is not possible to accept it to be a recognised school for being a private school under the act. for the reasons state above, the school tribunal constituted under section 8 of the act cannot entertain appeals filed under section 9 by the employees working in schools which are established and administered by the cantonment board. [deolali cantonment board v usha devidas dongre, 1993 mah.lj 74; 1993 lab ic 1858 overruled]. - as for major powlett, he, as political agent and superintendent of the estate under the orders of the government of india, has simply no locus standi whatever, nor could he be allowed to represent the government of india, in such a suit, even if that government had itself a better title than it has.robert stuart, c.j.1. this appeal must be allowed. indeed, no serious attempt was made at the hearing before us by the counsel for the respondent to support the judgment, and i must express my surprise and disappointment, that so experienced an officer as the then subordinate judge of agra should have been content to have given such reasons as he assigns in his judgment for holding that the suit in this instance had been properly laid. it is not pretended that the rajah is a disqualified proprietor under the court of wards, or that he has been in any respect divested of his rights of property over his estate; and as for the suggestion that the position assumed by the government of india and its political agent in this suit could be justified as an act of state, such a contention cannot for one moment be admitted. the claim for interference on the part of the government of india, whether in its own name or in that of its political agent, is one based entirely on a correspondence showing the necessity of the management and administration of the estate being for a time taken out of the hands of the rajah, and he himself no doubt acted wisely in applying to the government for assistance in his troubles. but it is a very different thing to say that such management and administration gave the government, not only the power to adiminister the estate for the benefit of the eajah, but to deprive him of his right and title in it and his dominion over it, to such effect, that the government could by itself, or by any of its officers, deal with it and with parties indebted to it as if it was the government's own independent property. tor, however large the power of the government might be in the way of administration and management, the right to the estate itself and every part of it, the title to the estate and all that constitutes a jus in re in regard to it, remained in and was inherent in the rajah himself, and such a suit as the present could only be brought in his own name, by which means, and by which means alone, could his consent as the true plaintiff be made to appear on the face of the record. in such a case the government of india neither have themselves, nor can they delegate to others, any larger powers than those that could be given to any other administrator or manager; and the principle on which this view of the case rests is that no man who is sui juris can be deprived of his property, for a single moment, or for any purpose whatever, excepting by his own deliberate consent and act, such an act on his part as would in law have the effect of at once divesting himself of, and investing his transferee with, his estate. no doubt the services agreed to be given to the rajah on his own application were most important and likely to be very beneficial to himself and his property, but the estate has still remained his, and is his, and his alone, and his name alone can be used in all judicial proceedings connected with its administration. as for major powlett, he, as political agent and superintendent of the estate under the orders of the government of india, has simply no locus standi whatever, nor could he be allowed to represent the government of india, in such a suit, even if that government had itself a better title than it has.2. the appeal is allowed and the suit is dismissed with costs in both courts.pearson, j.3. the property in suit is claimed as belonging to the kota estate, and the claim is based on the proprietary right of the rajah of kota. if he be the proprietor of the property the subject of the claim, he should have been the plaintiff in the suit; on the other hand, if his right and interest therein has passed to the government of india, the government of india should be the plaintiff. the political agent and superintendent of the kota raj does not profess to have any such proprietary right and interest in the property as to entitle him to sue as plaintiff for its recovery. the suit, as brought, must be dismissed, and the appeal decreed with costs.