Nagpur bench pulls up ‘tainted’ state minister

NAGPUR: The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has reprimanded the Maharashtra minister for education, Vasant Purke, and issued notices to him and the government for sanctioning a school in his own education society.

Purke is already facing allegations of nepotism and high-handedness in sanctioning nearly 1500 schools earlier this year.

Besides, Purke's permission to an education society to open a school in Talodhi Balapur district of Chandrapur district despite a 2004 High Court order quashing permission to it has also been challenged. The allotments are now subject to the court's decision.

A High Court bench had in 2004 warned the government that it would view any deviation from its directives "very seriously."

The court had obtained an undertaking from the then education secretary against making arbitrary allotments of schools to the education societies. The court had also laid down a detailed guideline on school allotments.

However, in the fresh cases, the petitioners - the Kalyan Shikshak Prasarak Mandal and Lokseva Shikshan Mandal - have pointed out that Purke put the High Court directions on tenterhooks while making the allotments. Purke, who represents Kelapur constituency in Yavatmal, allotted a high school to Adarsh Shikshan Prasarak Mandal to open a school in Talodhi Balapur and an ashram school to his own society.

Purke's earlier order clearing 1500 schools across the state is already before the High Court. Notices have been issued in that case too.