JUDGMENT - Dr. D.Y. CHANDRACHUD, J.:---Rule, returnable forthwith. Respondents waive service. By consent, petition is taken up for hearing.

2.The petitioner, which is registered under the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950, started a secondary school at Sondoli in the District of Kolhapur. Initially classes for Standard VIII were conducted for academic year 1994-95. The secondary school was conducted without any authorisation from the State Government and, it was only on 13-1-1995 that the petitioner applied for sanction and approval by the Government. The pattern of conducting unauthorised classes continued in 1995-96 and in 1996-97 when classes came to be conducted for standards VIII, IX X without permission from the Government. The students of the school who had pursued their studies for standard X were permitted to appear for the Board examination through another recognised school. On 18-9-1998, another application came to be filed by the school before the State Government for sanction. By a communication dated 20-8-1999, the State Government rejected the application of the petitioner for permission to open and establish a secondary school. Three reasons were furnished by the State Government for rejecting the application : (i) the institution had not furnished Audit Reports for the previous two years; (ii) the Managing Committee of the Trust did not include 30% of women amongst its members; and (iii) the Trust had unauthorisedly commenced the running of the school without the permission of the State Government. The petitioner was called upon to cease and desist from conducting the school in the absence of permission by the State Government. In the present proceedings under Article 226 of the Constitution, the petitioner seeks to impugn the letter of the State Government dated 20-8-1999, by which permission to establish and conduct the school has been rejected.

3.The writ petition which is being disposed of by this judgment, was one of a batch of petitions filed in this Court in which the central issue relates to the role and function of the State Government in granting or refusing permissions to establish primary, secondary and higher secondary schools in the State. This group of writ petitions arises out of applications filed by private managements for setting up primary and secondary schools in diverse parts of the State of Maharashtra. In many cases, permissions have been refused while in others, permissions granted to some other educational institution are sought to be impunged. In certain cases, the grievance of the petitioners before us has been that applications made for the grant of permission have been kept pending for disproportionately long period without decision. In some cases, it is distressing to find that institutions have admitted students without permission to conduct the school having been granted. The writ petitions before the Court are in many respects similar to those which are filed year after year when permissions for setting up new primary and secondary schools are granted or refused. In many of the petitions which the Court has had to consider, there has been a grievance that permissions for setting up primary and secondary schools have been granted without due verification of the infrastructure which is available for setting up the school. In certain cases, there is a grievance that the selection of an institution amongst several applicants is not based upon a consideration of objective norms or standards. In certain cases there are allegations of political interference in the decision making process. In many cases schools have been functioning without the requisite infrastructure needed to impart even basic levels of primary and secondary education. In certain cases, grievances have been made before the Court that as a result of permissions granted for setting up schools, there has been an unhealthy competition between educational institutions in a given geographical area.

4.The grievances raise

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