‘Generation of students suffered because of indecision’
Quashes 2018 order, orders setting up of GDC at Aishmuqam
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Dec 11: In one of the sharpest rebukes, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has castigated the Government for creating chaos, abandoning expert recommendations, issuing contradictory orders, triggering needless litigation and allowing a 13-year delay in establishing a Government Degree College (GDC) for the Pahalgam constituency leaving thousands of students without access to higher education.
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Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal, while disposing of two linked petitions filed by residents of Aishmuqam (2018) and Siligam (2020), delivered a scathing judgment declaring that the Government acted with unexplained deviation, administrative inconsistency and complete disregard for expert bodies thereby causing public suffering and legal turmoil.
The High Court ultimately quashed Government Order No. 300-HE of 2018, which had shifted the location of the college to Siligam without justification and directed the Government to establish the Degree College at Aishmuqam implementing the decision with utmost expedition.
“The material placed on record demonstrates that since 2012, the consistent and conscious decision of the Government supported by expert committees, feasibility assessments and official communications was to establish the Government Degree College at Aishmuqam. However, without disclosing any cogent reason, rationale or contemporaneous record justifying a departure from this settled position, the Government suddenly issued Order No. 300-HE of 2018 dated 24.04.2018 sanctioning the establishment of the College at Siligam. No material has been placed before this court explaining what prompted this abrupt change”, Justice Nargal observed.
The Government Order No. 300-HE of 2018 was subsequently challenged before the High Court by way of Writ Petition OWP No. 1213/2018 titled United Auqaf Committees Aishmuqam Versus State of J&K & Others. The High Court by virtue of an interim order directed that no action shall be taken to implement the order dated 24.04.2018 until further orders.
Thereafter, a committee was constituted vide Government Order No. 582-HE of 2018 dated 14.11.2018 to assess the feasibility of the site, which recommended that the college should be established at Aishmuqam. Despite the recommendations of both expert committees, the Government, thereafter, issued Order No. 48-HE of 2019 dated 05.02.2019, sanctioning the establishment of 42 colleges, including one college, whose proposed location was reflected as “Pahalgam Siligam/ Aishmuqam”.
“By indicating both Aishmuqam and Siligam as possible locations, the Government introduced further ambiguity, thereby generating uncertainty and prolonging the delay in implementing a decision intended to advance public welfare”, the High Court observed, adding “had the Government acted consistently and followed its earlier decision, there would have been no need for this litigation. The Government is, therefore, responsible for creating a situation that caused unnecessary legal dispute and prolonged uncertainty about the establishment of the college”.
“Such an unexplained and statistically unsupported deviation from expert recommendations fails the test of reasonableness and falls squarely within the recognized grounds of judicial interference under Article 226, as enunciated by the Supreme Court in catena of judgments”, the High Court said, adding “the impugned decision of the Government vide Government Order No. 300-HE of 2018 has resulted in prolonged uncertainty, stalled the establishment of a much-needed educational institution and adversely affected the student population for more than a decade”. Therefore, the Government’s decision sanctioning the college at Siligam is irrational, arbitrary and unsustainable”.
Issuing a word of caution to both the Government as well as the litigants, the High Court said, “the self contradictory and inconsistent orders issued by the Government, from time to time, with regard to the location for establishment of the Government Degree College have not only created avoidable confusion, but have also caused immeasurable prejudice to the student community, who were otherwise entitled to be admitted and pursue their education therein”.
What ought to have been a straightforward administrative exercise has, due to repeated contradictions, avoidable delays and absence of a clear stand, escalated into prolonged litigation, thereby frustrating the very purpose for which the institution was sanctioned, Justice Nargal said, adding “this court is deeply concerned to observe that an entire generation of students, who could have availed the convenience, accessibility, and academic opportunities offered by a local degree college, has been compelled to travel long distances. Such avoidable hardship to young students and their families, caused solely by the administrative lapses of the authorities, weighs heavily upon the conscience of this court”.
“Having carefully examined the 2018 report of the committee, this court finds no legal infirmity or procedural impropriety therein. The report is comprehensive, evidence-based and the product of comparative analysis of all relevant parameters, geographical centrality, accessibility, land availability, proximity to feeder institutions, transportation networks, and existing educational infrastructure”, the High Court said, adding “the recommendations in favour of Aishmuqam are well-reasoned and are supported by material on record. Accordingly, this court holds that the Government’s disregard of the report and its continued indecisiveness are patently arbitrary”.
Though determination of the location for establishment of an educational institution is fundamentally a matter of policy falling within the exclusive domain of the executive yet it is equally well settled that such policy decisions are amenable to judicial review where such policy decisions are shown to be arbitrary, irrational, or contrary to the material on record, the High Court said.
With a view to bring finality to a long-pending controversy and to prevent further litigation, the High Court deemed it just and proper to direct that the college be established at Ashmuqam, so that a quietus is put to the dispute and the issue is laid to rest once for all.
“The present case is a stark example of how indecision, litigation and administrative inconsistency can inflict unintended yet severe harm upon the public at large. Had the project proceeded unhindered, the college would have been operational long ago, providing substantial educational and developmental benefits to the region. Instead, successive generations of students have borne the cost of protracted proceedings and Governmental ambiguity”, the High Court said, adding “in matters concerning education and public welfare, the administration and the judiciary must act with concerted diligence to ensure that decisions are neither derailed nor rendered infructuous by the mere passage of time. Public interest, especially the educational aspirations of the youth, must remain paramount”.
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