The court ruled that obtaining minority status based on fraudulent misrepresentation invalidates such status, emphasizing that legal standards require all necessary permissions in educational institution management.

JUDGMENT :

P.M.MANOJ, J.

1. The writ petition is preferred by teachers of the ALPS, Pazhedom, Manjery challenging Ext.P23 order of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions on the ground that the objection filed by the petitioners for cancellation of the minority status obtained by the 6^th respondent in respect of ALP School, Pazhedom, by fraud, has been disposed of in a manner vitiated by errors apparent on the face of the record and is arbitrary and illegal.

2. Originally, the ALP School, Pazhedom was established by Sri.T.P.Muhammed Haji, who was its owner and manager. According to the petitioner, the school was not established with the objective of functioning as a minority institution, but to provide education facilities to the students of the Village irrespective of their religion or caste. After the death of Sri.Muhammed Haji, his son Sri.T.P. Abdul Salam became the manager of the school.

3. Originally, the School had an extent of 1.52 Acres of land. Later in the year 2007, the then manager and the legal heirs of Sri.Muhammed Haji sold the school building along with a portion of the land having an extent of 31.50 cents to one Aranjikkal Abdul Salam. According to the petitioners, the said transaction was in violation of Section 6(1) of the Kerala Education Act and Rule 5A of Chapter III of the Kerala Education Rules, 1959 (for short ‘KER’), since the sale was effected without obtaining prior permission from the respective Educational Authorities. It was also in violation of the area requirement prescribed under Rule 1 Chapter IV KER.

4. Subsequent to the sale, the educational authorities never recognized Sri.Aranjikkal Abdul Salam as Manager, since he had not obtained any approval from them. Thereafter, he sold the school building and 31.50 cents of the property in favour of the 6^th respondent by executing a sale deed on 08.10.2012. This sale was also in violation of Section 6(1) and Rule 5A Chapter III of the Kerala Education Act and Rules, respectively, as no prior approval had been obtained. Accordingly, it is contended that the sale itself is null and void.

5. The 6^th respondent, after purchasing the school, sold 9.5 cents out of 31.50 cents without obtaining prior permission as stated earlier, under the provisions of Kerala Education Act and Rules.

6. At the time of purchase of the school, the 6^th respondent was the Junior Arabic Teacher of Pazhedom LP School. As per Rule 8 Chapter III KER, a person connected with the management should not be appointed in the school. However, the 6^th respondent obtained exemption from the said provision as per Ext.P1 order dated 03.12.2012. Later, under Rule 5A of Chapter III KER, the 6^th respondent approached the Director of Public Instructions (for short ‘DPI’) for approval of the transfer of ownership. Though sanction was accorded, it was subject to the condition that the proposed transferee manager would protect the legal interests of the staff of the school, by all means, giving no way for any complaint, and that a compliance report would be submitted by the manager. The said sanction was further subject to the formal orders to be issued by the Assistant Educational Officer, Manjeri.

7. Thereafter, certain teachers of the school preferred the writ petition, WP(C) No. 8393/2014, before this Court against the action of the 6^th respondent in violation of the conditions specified in Ext.P2 order. By an interim order dated 30.05.2014, on the strength of the information received under the Right to Information Act that Sri.T.P. Abdul Salam was functioning as the manager of the School, this Court directed the parties to ma