PANAJI
Sources in the Diocesan Society of Education (DSE) have challenged the government’s requirement that chairmen of individual school managing committees sign appointment letters, saying the requirement is contrary to the Bombay High Court’s October 3, 2025 judgment recognising the Society’s constitutional right to administer its educational institutions.
The source was responding to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s statement in the Assembly that the required documents had to be signed by the chairmen of the respective local school managements before the government could process the pending salaries, assuring that the payments would be released the following day.
According to the DSE source, the High Court had upheld the constitutional autonomy of minority educational institutions and the Society’s right under Article 30(1) of the Constitution to establish and administer the schools run by it.
“The high court has held that the right of a minority institution to ‘establish and administer’ its educational institutions, including the right to select and appoint teachers and employees and to exercise disciplinary and administrative control over them, subject to compliance with the prescribed eligibility and educational standards,” said the source.
“The Court clarified that while the State is entitled to prescribe reasonable regulations to maintain educational standards, efficiency and prevent maladministration, such regulations cannot effectively take away or dilute the fundamental right of a minority institution to administer its institutions.”
According to the source, the Court held that where the Society runs several schools, the overall management and supervisory control remain with the minority society, while the managing committee of an individual school primarily deals with its day-to-day affairs.
“The Court specifically recognised the Society’s authority in matters concerning appointments, transfers, promotions, disciplinary action and absorption of staff,” said the source.
“Consequently, in Writ Petition No. 1865 of 2024(f), the Court set aside the order refusing approval for disciplinary action and declared that the Society, as the management, could take appropriate action without obtaining prior approval from the Director of Education.”
The DSE source said that in Writ Petition No. 826 of 2025(f), the Court quashed the communications requiring appointment orders to be signed by the chairman of the individual school managing committee and directed the authorities to process the appointments and grant approval to the pending appointments.
“At the time of filing the petition, approvals for the appointment of approximately 110–130 teachers and non-teaching staff were pending. By the time the petition was disposed of, the number had increased to around 200, and it has now risen to approximately 370–400 employees,” said the source.
“The prolonged non-grant of approvals has had a serious financial and humanitarian impact, as 458 teaching and non-teaching staff of 139 DSE schools continue to be deprived of their salaries despite having been appointed and rendering their services,” the source added.
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Contempt petition against DoE on Oct 5
PANAJI: A contempt petition against the Director of Education (DoE) has been fixed before the High Court on October 5.
Following the judgment and directions issued by the High Court of Bombay at Goa in a writ petition, the petitioner, Diocesan Society of Education (DSE), submitted representations and requested the Director of Education to process the pending approvals in accordance with the judgment.
“Despite the clear findings and directions of the Court, the DoE reiterated the very same objection that the appointment orders must bear the signature of the chairman of the individual school managing committee and not the secretary of the Diocesan Society of Education,” said a source in the DSE. “Aggrieved by the alleged wilful disobedience of the judgment, we were constrained to approach the High Court by filing a contempt petition.”
