Mumbai: Bombay high court has restrained the police from taking coercive steps against an unauthorised primary school in Mandala, Mankhurd, which is among 36 schools against whom an FIR was registered.Justice Milind Jadhav in the Aug 21 interim order said, “Prima facie, an arguable case is made out”, especially when the academic year has already commenced. “It would be a travesty of justice if on account of prosecution proceedings, the school is shut down abruptly and its students are required to be accommodated elsewhere,” Justice Jadhav said.The petition, seeking quashing of the FIR, was filed by the office-bearers of Educare English School, which has been run by a trust since 2015-16. The school caters to the educational needs of children living in slums. In Oct 2017, BMC issued it a certificate on being mapped by the ministry of education’s unified district information system for education platform.The school had filed several applications seeking recognition. On March 2, BMC’s education inspector issued a show-cause notice and directed closure of the school. On June 24, an FIR was registered under Section 223 (disobedience to order by public servant) of BNS and Section 18 (no school to be established without a recognition certificate) of the Right to Education Act.Advocate Satish Talekar, for the petitioners, argued that the FIR is not maintainable as, under Section 223, it has to be a complaint by the public servant. Section 18 prescribes paying a fine for such situations.Justice Jadhav said, “What is intriguing is that if the show-cause notice states that the school should send its students to the nearby private, aided or unaided schools or municipal schools and be closed down, merely stating so cannot be countenanced by the court unless the students…are rehabilitated in toto.” He directed the prosecution to “appropriately” file a reply and further that “no coercive steps be taken under the FIR till the petition is heard for admission.”
