HC stays allotment of 615 schools in state

NAGPUR: In a fresh jolt, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Tuesday stayed the allotment of second set of 615 new schools in the state and issued notices to the government, Education Department and Maharashtra Education Minister Vasant Purke.

A division bench of Justice Dilip Sinha and Justice R C Chouhan, while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Maharashtra Rajya Shikshan Mahamandal, Amravati, issued notices, returnable within 10 days.

The court stayed opening of 615 new schools which were granted permission by Purke on May 30. The allotment was in violation of state undertaking before the court in 2004, the bench noted.

Earlier on July 7, the same bench had quashed the allotment while the state education department and Purke withdrew the sanction of first set of 1495 new schools, which were also sanctioned permission in violation of court directive.

The court had earlier issued notices to state, education department and Purke on June 15 when the PIL came up for hearing.

The court noted that Purke had granted permission to 1495 schools in one order on May 15, including a few new schools, to education society run by himself and his family.

As the court quashed the allotment of new schools, Purke had withdrawn his order on July 7. The court had asked the government to invite fresh applications within six months, if it so desired.