The main legal point established in the judgment is the requirement for permission to admit girls in a boys' school under R.12(iii) of the Kerala Education Rules, and the permissible regulatory measures under Art.30(1) of the Constitution.

1. In this original petition the petitioner challenges the order of the Regional Deputy Director of Public Instruction, Trivandrum, dated 5 61973 (Ext. P2) refusing permission to the petitioner to admit girls in the St. Vincent's High School, Kaniyapuram. The order of the District Educational Officer dated 2 51974 (Ext. P4) issued in consequence of Ext. P2 order is also challenged. In 1947 the Government accorded sanction to one Dr. A. G. Pereira to open a High School under his management at Kaniyapuram. Subsequently the school was transferred to the Trivandrum Roman Catholic diocese and it is administered by this diocese during the last 25 years. The petitioner is the corporate Manager of the schools belonging to the Roman Catholic diocese of Trivandrum. Only boy students were admitted in school concerned in this case till the end of the academic year 1971-72. In the next academic year the management built a separate building in the school compound to provide accommodation for girl students to be admitted and then the Manager applied to the Regional Deputy Director for permission to admit girl students in the school. By Ext. P2 order referred to above permission was refused. In the order it was stated that the Manager failed to produce evidence to show that the original sanction was to open a mixed school, that the school was being run purely as a boys' school for the last more than 25 years that there is also facility for the education of the girls of the locality in the nearby Girls' school situated within a radius of one mile and that, therefore the request of the Manager is refused Without waiting for a decision of the Government on the revision petition, Ext. P3, filed against Ext. P-2 order the petitioner seems to have admitted some girl students in the school. So the District Educational Officer by Ext. P4 order dated 2-5-1974 instructed the head of the school to see that girls are not admitted in the school. This is challenged by the petitioner on various grounds.

2. Firstly it is contended that sanction was not accorded for a boys' school but only for a High School and so in the absence of any restriction in the order of sanction regarding admission of girls the school is a mixed school for the purpose of the Kerala Education Act and Rules and the petitioner is entitled to admit girls also in the school. Ext. P1 is the copy of the original order according sanction to open a High School and therein it is not mentioned that sanction is to open a High School for the boys only. Under the Travancore Education Code, which was a code of instructions followed in establishing and recognising aided schools in Travancore State, a school was classified as a boys' school or a girls' school depending only on the nature of the sex of the pupils admitted in the school and did not depend on any order sanctioning the school. The school is an existing school within the meaning of the Kerala Education Act and the Rules.

"Excising School" is defined thus in the Act:

" "existing school" means any aided, recognised or Government school established before the commencement of this Act and continuing as such at such commencement;

A school established before and continuing as such after the commencement of the Act will be deemed to have been established in accordance with the Act (see S 3(4) of the Act). From this it follows that the nature of the previous establishment will continue as such after the commencement of the Act till such time as it is altered under the provisions of the Act. Under the Act also Chapter II dealing with the classification of schools, Chapter IV dealing with establishment and maintenance of schools and Chapter V opening and recognition of schools do not provide for specifying a school as a boys' school or a girls' school. A "girls' school', has been defined in Chapter II, R.6 of the Kerala Education Rules as a school where admission to some or all of the Standards is restricted to girls only. A "Boys' school