In this writ petition the petitioners have challenged the decision of the Appeal Committee of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education the respondent No. 1 (hereinafter referred to as the Appeal Committee) holding that it had jurisdiction to hear and dispose of the Appeal No. 75/72 preferred by Joseph D'Sa Pravu the respondent No. 4 against the authorities of the St. Xavier's Collegiate School, Calcutta (hereinafter referred to as the school). The petitioners Nos.1 to 11 are members of the Managing Committee of the school who are stated to have been nominated by the Provincial Superior of the Calcutta Province of the Society of Jesus. The petitioner No. 13 is the school which is claimed to have been established by the said society of Jesus and has been and is being run, managed and administered by the Jesuits of Calcutta. It is, therefore, claimed that the school was established and has been and is being managed and administered by a religious minority community within the meaning of Article 30 of the Constitution of India. The school is an unaided Higher Secondary School and it sends up candidates for the Higher Secondary Examination held by the West Bengal Board of Se