Full Judgment Text
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
rd
Date of decision: 23 December, 2014 .
+ W.P.(C) 3687/2008 & CM No.5230/2014 (for directions)
SIKSHA SEWA SAMITI & ORS. ..... Petitioners
Through: Mr. Mushtaq Ahmad and Mr. Shaikh
Chand, Advs.
Versus
STATE OF NCT OF DELHI & ORS. ..... Respondents
Through: Mr. Sanjeev Sabharwal and Mr. Hem
Kumar, Advs. for GNCTD.
Ms. Mahika Trivedi, Adv. for NDMC
CORAM:
HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJIV SAHAI ENDLAW
RAJIV SAHAI ENDLAW, J.
1. This petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been
filed by the three petitioners claiming to be Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOs) working for the promotion of Urdu, Urdu education
and general education, pleading:
(i) that there are 65 Urdu Primary Schools in Delhi run by
Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD);
(ii) that after the students pass Class V from such Schools, they are
sent to such Schools where there is no provision for reading through
W.P.(C) No.3687/2008 Page 1 of 11
the Urdu medium; the students thus face difficulties because of
sudden change of medium in Class VI; in some of such Schools, Urdu
is not even taught as a third language subject; the students are thus
faced with a fait accompli situation, to read Sanskrit;
(iii) that had there been a policy / arrangement for continuing
education from primary to secondary / senior secondary level through
the Urdu medium, the number of such Primary Schools would not
have fallen from 150 in the past to 65 now;
(iv) that not only so, the posts of teachers in the said Urdu Primary
Schools remain vacant for years or non-Urdu knowing teachers are
posted to the said Schools;
(v) that all this leads to lesser and lesser number of students,
though wanting to, opting for the said Urdu Primary Schools and
which in turn leads to the respondents taking a stand that there is no
demand for such Schools;
(vi) that mischievously Hindi medium sections are surreptitiously
opened in purely Urdu medium schools and the strength of Hindi
medium teachers and Hindi medium students is gradually growing in
the Urdu Primary Schools, virtually converting them into Hindi
W.P.(C) No.3687/2008 Page 2 of 11
medium schools;
(vii) that non-availability of Urdu medium books is another major
problem faced by the Urdu medium students and teachers in the MCD
and the Govt. of NCT of Delhi (GNCTD) Schools—at times books
are not translated and printed from English to Urdu even till the
academic session comes to an end; it is the responsibility of the
Government to provide free books in all subjects in Urdu language in
the Urdu Primary Schools;
(viii) that though the Schools are required to teach any language, if
minimum of six students for studying the same are available in the
School but inspite of many more than six students desiring to learn
Urdu language, no Urdu teacher is provided in the Schools;
(ix) that the provision in the Secondary Schools of the MCD and
GNCTD for teaching Urdu as a third language exists only on paper as
even when the students opt for Urdu, they are told that there is no
facility for teaching the same;
(x) that even in Schools where Urdu is being taught as third
language, only part time teachers sent by the Urdu Academy or
appointed on contract basis are available;
W.P.(C) No.3687/2008 Page 3 of 11
(xi) that the GNCTD has not sanctioned any Urdu Teacher post for
teaching Urdu as a third language in its Schools;
(xii) that in several of the Schools which claim to be teaching Urdu
as the third language, there is not a single Urdu teacher;
(xiii) that the Urdu teachers available in the Primary Schools are not
promoted to teach Urdu as a third language in the Secondary Schools;
(xiv) that some of the 65 Urdu Primary Schools have been
designedly merged with general schools obliterating their identity;
(xv) that there are no Urdu knowing supervisory staff in the
Directorate of Education (DoE).
The petition seeks the reliefs, of a direction:
(a) to the Directorate of Education, GNCTD to take up a
survey of all vacancies in the Urdu Medium Schools of Delhi
and to fill up the same;
(b) to the Directorate of Education, GNCTD to demerge the
Urdu Medium Schools and restore their original identity;
(c) for transfer of all non-Urdu Teachers from Urdu Medium
Schools and for filling up the vacancies in the Urdu Medium
W.P.(C) No.3687/2008 Page 4 of 11
Schools;
(d) for maintenance of advance register of vacancies of Urdu
language Teachers in the Schools;
(e) for ensuring education through Urdu medium from Class
I to Class V and Class XII without any gap in between; and,
(f) for making available Urdu text books from Class I to XII
at the beginning of each session.
st
2. The petition was entertained and notice thereof issued. On 21 May,
2008 the counsel for the respondent New Delhi Municipal Corporation
(NDMC) stated that NDMC has enough stock of Class V and VIII books
and Maths books for Class VI and that there is no shortage of books.
Similarly, the counsel for the MCD stated that out of 28 titles, 25 titles had
been lifted from the Delhi Bureau of Text Books and distributed to students
and remaining three titles would also be distributed in the month of July,
2008. The counsel for the Delhi Bureau of Text Books also stated that there
is sufficient stock of Urdu books and it would be open for the NDMC and
the MCD to lift the stocks as and when required.
3. The MCD has filed a counter affidavit, (I) denying that any step-
motherly treatment is being meted out to Urdu language; (II) stating that
W.P.(C) No.3687/2008 Page 5 of 11
since appointment of teachers through Delhi Subordinate Services Selection
Board (DSSSB) takes time, as a temporary measure, teachers are engaged
on contract basis; (III) denying that no Urdu Teachers had been appointed
since 1995 and pleading that the last batch of Regular Urdu Teachers were
appointed in the year 2006 and requisition for more Urdu Teachers was
pending with DSSSB; (IV) stating that it is running Schools upto Class V
only; (V) stating the policy with regard to the admission for children who
passed Class V from MCD School is determined by the DoE, GNCTD; (VI)
denying that text books were not available or were not distributed in the
Urdu Medium Schools; (VII) denying that the Urdu Teachers were not
being promoted; (VIII) pleading that owing to commercialization of the
walled city area and the resultant reduction in the number of residents
therein had led to decrease in the number of students, not only in its Urdu
Medium Schools but also in non-Urdu Medium Schools—it is for this
reason that it has closed / merged Schools wherein the number of students
had drastically decreased; (IX) denying that books were distributed late in
the Urdu Medium Schools; (X) pleading that there is no post for Urdu
knowing supervisory staff but one Urdu knowing Nodal Officer had been
assigned the work related to Urdu Teachers and Urdu Medium Schools.
W.P.(C) No.3687/2008 Page 6 of 11
4. The GNCTD has also filed a counter affidavit pleading, (A) that there
is no provision in the Recruitment Rules to recruit PGTs / TGTs knowing
Urdu to teach different subjects to Classes VI to XII except for teaching
Urdu language; (B) however there are some Schools of GNCTD where
medium of instruction is Urdu and for those Schools, PGT / TGT who can
teach subjects at Secondary / Senior Secondary level in Urdu medium are
posted; (C) that in other Schools Urdu is taught only as one of the
languages; (D) that PGTs / TGTs for Urdu are recruited by the DSSSB as
per the requisition sent from time to time; (E) that whenever the enrolment
is below 30, the proposal for merger of that School with another is
considered; (F) that all students passing from Primary Urdu Schools are
absorbed in the Middle Schools; (G) that Urdu medium books for Class IX
to XII are published by the National Council of Educational Research and
Training (NCERT) and for Class I to VIII are developed by the State
Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and published by
Delhi Bureau of Text Books; (H) that the SCERT had that year changed one
of the Urdu books and which led to delay in printing of the same; (I)
otherwise, books are being supplied to Schools; (J) denying that there is any
step-motherly treatment to Urdu Medium Schools; (K) that non-Urdu
W.P.(C) No.3687/2008 Page 7 of 11
knowing teachers are posted in Urdu Medium Schools only in emergent
situations, so as to enable the students to complete their course.
5. NDMC in its counter affidavit has stated that there are fourteen
NDMC Schools with Urdu as a medium of instruction, of which ten are
Primary Level Schools and three Middle Level Schools and one Secondary
Level School; besides, there are NDMC Schools which are teaching Urdu as
an optional subject, of which one is Primary Level School, one Middle
Level and two Secondary Level Schools; Urdu has also been implemented
as a third language in the Secondary / Senior Secondary Schools of the
NDMC; that there are 46 sanctioned posts of Urdu Teachers in the Schools
run by the NDMC and against which 39 posts are filled up and 7 posts are
vacant and the process of filling up of which was underway.
st
6. The order dated 1 July, 2009 in this petition takes note of the fact
that as on that date there were 100 vacancies of Urdu Teachers. The
respondents were directed to file an affidavit detailing the steps taken for
filling up the same. The petitioners filed CM No.10166/2009 impugning the
proposal for closure of one School and merger thereof with another School
th
in the walled city area. The counsel for the GNCTD on 19 August, 2009
gave a statement that the said proposal stood cancelled. The petition, on
W.P.(C) No.3687/2008 Page 8 of 11
th
16 September, 2009 was dismissed in default but was restored on the
application of the petitioners. From time to time, status reports in form of
additional affidavits have been filed by the respondents. The petition was
th
again dismissed for non-prosecution on 20 February, 2013 but was again
restored on the application of the petitioners. The petition was yet again
th
dismissed for non-prosecution on 16 January, 2014 but was yet again
restored on application of the petitioners.
rd
7. The order dated 23 April, 2014 records that the thrust of the present
petition is not so much directed against the appointment of teachers to teach
Urdu language but for a direction for teaching all subjects in a School in
Urdu medium. GNCTD was directed to file a specific response on the said
aspect.
th
8. GNCTD has filed an affidavit dated 8 August, 2014 stating, (i) that
there are 228 Govt. Schools under the DoE, GNCTD in which Urdu is being
taught as a language; (ii) that in addition to this, there are 21 Govt. Schools
under the DoE, where Urdu is the medium of instructions; (iii) detailing the
position of the Urdu Teachers in the Govt. Schools as well as in the Urdu
Medium Schools; (iv) pleading that in addition Urdu Teachers under the
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan are also appointed every year on contract basis to
W.P.(C) No.3687/2008 Page 9 of 11
overcome the shortage of Urdu Teachers; (v) stating that as such there exists
no shortage of Urdu Teachers in schools where Urdu is taught as a language
and so also in Urdu Medium Schools; (vi) pleading that the DoE had
assessed an additional requirement of 152 TGT (Urdu) posts and the process
of creation thereof is in the pipeline; (vii) however pleading that there exists
some shortage of regular Urdu Teacher for which necessary requisition had
been sent to DSSSB and the process of appointment is going on; (viii)
pleading that the DoE had also deployed teachers from Urdu Academy in
the Urdu Medium Schools to teach subjects like Mathematics, Science,
Social Science in Urdu medium; (ix) pleading that most of the Universities
of India do not have Urdu as a medium of instruction at graduation level in
any discipline, to teach Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Maths etc. in Urdu and
which has led to non-availability of Urdu trained graduate teachers in the
said subjects; and, (x) pleading that University Gants Commission (UGC)
had already been approached to explore the possibility of introducing Urdu
medium at graduation level so as to make available teachers to teach the
science subjects in Urdu language.
9. We heard the counsels and reserved judgment.
10. The counsel for the petitioners during the hearing could not come up
W.P.(C) No.3687/2008 Page 10 of 11
with any further suggestions / steps which the GNCTD can take in addition
th
to the steps already being undertaken as detailed in the affidavit dated 8
August, 2014 supra.
11. We in the circumstances, are satisfied that this petition has served its
purpose and that the respondents GNCTD, MCD and NDMC are taking all
possible steps to redress the issue flagging which this petition was filed.
12. We dispose of this petition with a direction to the respondent GNCTD
th
to abide by its affidavit dated 8 August, 2014.
No costs.
RAJIV SAHAI ENDLAW, J.
CHIEF JUSTICE
DECEMBER 23, 2014
Bs..
W.P.(C) No.3687/2008 Page 11 of 11
rd
Date of decision: 23 December, 2014 .
+ W.P.(C) 3687/2008 & CM No.5230/2014 (for directions)
SIKSHA SEWA SAMITI & ORS. ..... Petitioners
Through: Mr. Mushtaq Ahmad and Mr. Shaikh
Chand, Advs.
Versus
STATE OF NCT OF DELHI & ORS. ..... Respondents
Through: Mr. Sanjeev Sabharwal and Mr. Hem
Kumar, Advs. for GNCTD.
Ms. Mahika Trivedi, Adv. for NDMC
CORAM:
HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJIV SAHAI ENDLAW
RAJIV SAHAI ENDLAW, J.
1. This petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been
filed by the three petitioners claiming to be Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGOs) working for the promotion of Urdu, Urdu education
and general education, pleading:
(i) that there are 65 Urdu Primary Schools in Delhi run by
Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD);
(ii) that after the students pass Class V from such Schools, they are
sent to such Schools where there is no provision for reading through
W.P.(C) No.3687/2008 Page 1 of 11
the Urdu medium; the students thus face difficulties because of
sudden change of medium in Class VI; in some of such Schools, Urdu
is not even taught as a third language subject; the students are thus
faced with a fait accompli situation, to read Sanskrit;
(iii) that had there been a policy / arrangement for continuing
education from primary to secondary / senior secondary level through
the Urdu medium, the number of such Primary Schools would not
have fallen from 150 in the past to 65 now;
(iv) that not only so, the posts of teachers in the said Urdu Primary
Schools remain vacant for years or non-Urdu knowing teachers are
posted to the said Schools;
(v) that all this leads to lesser and lesser number of students,
though wanting to, opting for the said Urdu Primary Schools and
which in turn leads to the respondents taking a stand that there is no
demand for such Schools;
(vi) that mischievously Hindi medium sections are surreptitiously
opened in purely Urdu medium schools and the strength of Hindi
medium teachers and Hindi medium students is gradually growing in
the Urdu Primary Schools, virtually converting them into Hindi
W.P.(C) No.3687/2008 Page 2 of 11
medium schools;
(vii) that non-availability of Urdu medium books is another major
problem faced by the Urdu medium students and teachers in the MCD
and the Govt. of NCT of Delhi (GNCTD) Schools—at times books
are not translated and printed from English to Urdu even till the
academic session comes to an end; it is the responsibility of the
Government to provide free books in all subjects in Urdu language in
the Urdu Primary Schools;
(viii) that though the Schools are required to teach any language, if
minimum of six students for studying the same are available in the
School but inspite of many more than six students desiring to learn
Urdu language, no Urdu teacher is provided in the Schools;
(ix) that the provision in the Secondary Schools of the MCD and
GNCTD for teaching Urdu as a third language exists only on paper as
even when the students opt for Urdu, they are told that there is no
facility for teaching the same;
(x) that even in Schools where Urdu is being taught as third
language, only part time teachers sent by the Urdu Academy or
appointed on contract basis are available;
W.P.(C) No.3687/2008 Page 3 of 11
(xi) that the GNCTD has not sanctioned any Urdu Teacher post for
teaching Urdu as a third language in its Schools;
(xii) that in several of the Schools which claim to be teaching Urdu
as the third language, there is not a single Urdu teacher;
(xiii) that the Urdu teachers available in the Primary Schools are not
promoted to teach Urdu as a third language in the Secondary Schools;
(xiv) that some of the 65 Urdu Primary Schools have been
designedly merged with general schools obliterating their identity;
(xv) that there are no Urdu knowing supervisory staff in the
Directorate of Education (DoE).
The petition seeks the reliefs, of a direction:
(a) to the Directorate of Education, GNCTD to take up a
survey of all vacancies in the Urdu Medium Schools of Delhi
and to fill up the same;
(b) to the Directorate of Education, GNCTD to demerge the
Urdu Medium Schools and restore their original identity;
(c) for transfer of all non-Urdu Teachers from Urdu Medium
Schools and for filling up the vacancies in the Urdu Medium
W.P.(C) No.3687/2008 Page 4 of 11
Schools;
(d) for maintenance of advance register of vacancies of Urdu
language Teachers in the Schools;
(e) for ensuring education through Urdu medium from Class
I to Class V and Class XII without any gap in between; and,
(f) for making available Urdu text books from Class I to XII
at the beginning of each session.
st
2. The petition was entertained and notice thereof issued. On 21 May,
2008 the counsel for the respondent New Delhi Municipal Corporation
(NDMC) stated that NDMC has enough stock of Class V and VIII books
and Maths books for Class VI and that there is no shortage of books.
Similarly, the counsel for the MCD stated that out of 28 titles, 25 titles had
been lifted from the Delhi Bureau of Text Books and distributed to students
and remaining three titles would also be distributed in the month of July,
2008. The counsel for the Delhi Bureau of Text Books also stated that there
is sufficient stock of Urdu books and it would be open for the NDMC and
the MCD to lift the stocks as and when required.
3. The MCD has filed a counter affidavit, (I) denying that any step-
motherly treatment is being meted out to Urdu language; (II) stating that
W.P.(C) No.3687/2008 Page 5 of 11
since appointment of teachers through Delhi Subordinate Services Selection
Board (DSSSB) takes time, as a temporary measure, teachers are engaged
on contract basis; (III) denying that no Urdu Teachers had been appointed
since 1995 and pleading that the last batch of Regular Urdu Teachers were
appointed in the year 2006 and requisition for more Urdu Teachers was
pending with DSSSB; (IV) stating that it is running Schools upto Class V
only; (V) stating the policy with regard to the admission for children who
passed Class V from MCD School is determined by the DoE, GNCTD; (VI)
denying that text books were not available or were not distributed in the
Urdu Medium Schools; (VII) denying that the Urdu Teachers were not
being promoted; (VIII) pleading that owing to commercialization of the
walled city area and the resultant reduction in the number of residents
therein had led to decrease in the number of students, not only in its Urdu
Medium Schools but also in non-Urdu Medium Schools—it is for this
reason that it has closed / merged Schools wherein the number of students
had drastically decreased; (IX) denying that books were distributed late in
the Urdu Medium Schools; (X) pleading that there is no post for Urdu
knowing supervisory staff but one Urdu knowing Nodal Officer had been
assigned the work related to Urdu Teachers and Urdu Medium Schools.
W.P.(C) No.3687/2008 Page 6 of 11
4. The GNCTD has also filed a counter affidavit pleading, (A) that there
is no provision in the Recruitment Rules to recruit PGTs / TGTs knowing
Urdu to teach different subjects to Classes VI to XII except for teaching
Urdu language; (B) however there are some Schools of GNCTD where
medium of instruction is Urdu and for those Schools, PGT / TGT who can
teach subjects at Secondary / Senior Secondary level in Urdu medium are
posted; (C) that in other Schools Urdu is taught only as one of the
languages; (D) that PGTs / TGTs for Urdu are recruited by the DSSSB as
per the requisition sent from time to time; (E) that whenever the enrolment
is below 30, the proposal for merger of that School with another is
considered; (F) that all students passing from Primary Urdu Schools are
absorbed in the Middle Schools; (G) that Urdu medium books for Class IX
to XII are published by the National Council of Educational Research and
Training (NCERT) and for Class I to VIII are developed by the State
Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and published by
Delhi Bureau of Text Books; (H) that the SCERT had that year changed one
of the Urdu books and which led to delay in printing of the same; (I)
otherwise, books are being supplied to Schools; (J) denying that there is any
step-motherly treatment to Urdu Medium Schools; (K) that non-Urdu
W.P.(C) No.3687/2008 Page 7 of 11
knowing teachers are posted in Urdu Medium Schools only in emergent
situations, so as to enable the students to complete their course.
5. NDMC in its counter affidavit has stated that there are fourteen
NDMC Schools with Urdu as a medium of instruction, of which ten are
Primary Level Schools and three Middle Level Schools and one Secondary
Level School; besides, there are NDMC Schools which are teaching Urdu as
an optional subject, of which one is Primary Level School, one Middle
Level and two Secondary Level Schools; Urdu has also been implemented
as a third language in the Secondary / Senior Secondary Schools of the
NDMC; that there are 46 sanctioned posts of Urdu Teachers in the Schools
run by the NDMC and against which 39 posts are filled up and 7 posts are
vacant and the process of filling up of which was underway.
st
6. The order dated 1 July, 2009 in this petition takes note of the fact
that as on that date there were 100 vacancies of Urdu Teachers. The
respondents were directed to file an affidavit detailing the steps taken for
filling up the same. The petitioners filed CM No.10166/2009 impugning the
proposal for closure of one School and merger thereof with another School
th
in the walled city area. The counsel for the GNCTD on 19 August, 2009
gave a statement that the said proposal stood cancelled. The petition, on
W.P.(C) No.3687/2008 Page 8 of 11
th
16 September, 2009 was dismissed in default but was restored on the
application of the petitioners. From time to time, status reports in form of
additional affidavits have been filed by the respondents. The petition was
th
again dismissed for non-prosecution on 20 February, 2013 but was again
restored on the application of the petitioners. The petition was yet again
th
dismissed for non-prosecution on 16 January, 2014 but was yet again
restored on application of the petitioners.
rd
7. The order dated 23 April, 2014 records that the thrust of the present
petition is not so much directed against the appointment of teachers to teach
Urdu language but for a direction for teaching all subjects in a School in
Urdu medium. GNCTD was directed to file a specific response on the said
aspect.
th
8. GNCTD has filed an affidavit dated 8 August, 2014 stating, (i) that
there are 228 Govt. Schools under the DoE, GNCTD in which Urdu is being
taught as a language; (ii) that in addition to this, there are 21 Govt. Schools
under the DoE, where Urdu is the medium of instructions; (iii) detailing the
position of the Urdu Teachers in the Govt. Schools as well as in the Urdu
Medium Schools; (iv) pleading that in addition Urdu Teachers under the
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan are also appointed every year on contract basis to
W.P.(C) No.3687/2008 Page 9 of 11
overcome the shortage of Urdu Teachers; (v) stating that as such there exists
no shortage of Urdu Teachers in schools where Urdu is taught as a language
and so also in Urdu Medium Schools; (vi) pleading that the DoE had
assessed an additional requirement of 152 TGT (Urdu) posts and the process
of creation thereof is in the pipeline; (vii) however pleading that there exists
some shortage of regular Urdu Teacher for which necessary requisition had
been sent to DSSSB and the process of appointment is going on; (viii)
pleading that the DoE had also deployed teachers from Urdu Academy in
the Urdu Medium Schools to teach subjects like Mathematics, Science,
Social Science in Urdu medium; (ix) pleading that most of the Universities
of India do not have Urdu as a medium of instruction at graduation level in
any discipline, to teach Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Maths etc. in Urdu and
which has led to non-availability of Urdu trained graduate teachers in the
said subjects; and, (x) pleading that University Gants Commission (UGC)
had already been approached to explore the possibility of introducing Urdu
medium at graduation level so as to make available teachers to teach the
science subjects in Urdu language.
9. We heard the counsels and reserved judgment.
10. The counsel for the petitioners during the hearing could not come up
W.P.(C) No.3687/2008 Page 10 of 11
with any further suggestions / steps which the GNCTD can take in addition
th
to the steps already being undertaken as detailed in the affidavit dated 8
August, 2014 supra.
11. We in the circumstances, are satisfied that this petition has served its
purpose and that the respondents GNCTD, MCD and NDMC are taking all
possible steps to redress the issue flagging which this petition was filed.
12. We dispose of this petition with a direction to the respondent GNCTD
th
to abide by its affidavit dated 8 August, 2014.
No costs.
RAJIV SAHAI ENDLAW, J.
CHIEF JUSTICE
DECEMBER 23, 2014
Bs..
W.P.(C) No.3687/2008 Page 11 of 11