JUDGMENT

Dr. A.K. Rath, J.

1. This reference has been made by a Division Bench of this Court to the Full Bench for an authoritative pronouncement on the scope and ambit of Section 7C of the Orissa Education Act, 1969 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'), the interplay of Section 7C(1) and Section 7C(4) of the Act and the Grant-in-Aid Order promulgated in terms of Section 7C(4) of the Act vis-a-vis the jurisdiction of this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution to direct the Government for making necessary budgetary allocation for payment of Grant-in-Aid.

2. The reference order is as follows:

The question raised in this case is of general importance. It relates to the scope of ambit of section 7C of the Orissa Education Act. In particular it relates to the interplay of Section 7C(1) and 7C(4) of the Act and the grant-in-aid order promulgated in terms of section 7C(4) of the Act. The Government has taken the stand that it has been making budgetary allocations within the limit of its economic capacity and the claims of all those who may be eligible for the grant-in-aid could not be considered in view of paucity of funds and they will be considered, if found eligible, for grant-in-a