Judgment The petitioners, claiming to be the guardians of their wards in the Krishnath College School in the District of Murshidabad, have challenged in this Civil Order the legality and the validity of the Notification dated 13th January, 1989 issued by the Education Department, Government of West Bengal, and the Memo Nos. 45/89-Edn. (S/7C-32/86) and 1104-Edn.(S/C-32/86) dated 13th January, 1989 and 19th December, 1989 respectively, issued by the Assistant Secretary, Education Department (Secondary Branch), Govt. of West Bengal, thereby declaring the Krishnath College School at Berhampore, Dist. Murshidabad as a Government sponsored Institution. 2. The petitioners have claimed inter alia, in the present civil order, that they are the guardians of their wards, who are students in the Krishnath College School which is a very old but highly reputed educational institution not only in the District or Murshidabad but also in West Bengal, and all through the same is being managed by reputed educationists and the said school was founded through private aids and donations and was not established or founded by the State of West Bengal at all, Since the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education Act, 1963 had come into force, the school also started getting the grant-in-aid like other recognised Non-Government Institutions. The Managing Committee of the said school, by its letter dated 19th January, 1988, had applied before the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education praying for extension of the life of the Managing Committee of the said School, but before any decision was arrived at in the matter, the District Inspector of School Education, West Bengal by his Memo No. 723-SC/S dated 22nd March, 1988 intimated the Managing Committee of the said school that the Assistant Inspector of School Murshidabad had been appointed as the drawing and disbursing officer of the said school that subsequently, the Secretary, West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, by his letter dated 22nd April, 1988, intimated the Managing Committee of the said School, that the President of West Bengal Board of Secondary Education has appointed the District Magistrate Murshidabad as the Administrator of the said school in supersession of the Managing Committee. Challenging the said order of supersession of the Managing Committee by appointing an Administrator, the petitioner no. 1 along with other members of the Managing Committee of the school moved a writ application in this Hon'ble Court which was disposed of by the Hon'ble Mr. Challenging the said order of supersession of the Managing Committee by appointing an Administrator, the petitioner no. 1 along with other members of the Managing Committee of the school moved a writ application in this Hon'ble Court which was disposed of by the Hon'ble Mr. Justice Mahitosh Majumdar on 16th May, 1988, observing inter alia, that since the application for extension of the term of the Managing Committee of Krishnath College School, had not yet been disposed of, the order of supersession passed by the president, West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, as communicated by the Secretary of the said Board being the impugned order of supersession was stayed. The disbursing officer appointed earlier would remain. The District Magistrate shall act as the Special Officer and he would act in consultation with the Managing Committee till the disposal of the application for extension. In case, the said application is rejected, the order appointing Administrator shall take effect. All out efforts shall have to be made to reconstitute the managing committee of the said school within six months. The District Inspector of Schools, shall entrust a person for preparing the voters list and he would act in consultation with the senior most teacher of the said school in the matter. 3. Against the said order of His Lordship, an appeal being F.M.A.T. No. 1722 of 1988 was preferred in this Hon'ble Court along with an application for stay of operation of the said order of the learned trial Judge which application, however, was dismissed for default on 21st December, 1988, by the Division Bench presided over by the Hon'ble Mr. Justice M.N. Roy and the application for restoration was also dismissed for default on 1st March, 1989. 4. In the meantime, the President, West Bengal Board of Secondary Education also rejected the Managing Committee's application for extension of its life, as would appear from Annexure 'C' to the writ application, from which it would appear, that the reasoning given for rejection was more or less a stereotyped one without proper application of mind at all. 5. Subsequently, the Assistant Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal, Education Branch, by his Memo No. 1104-Edn (S)/C-32/86 dated 19th December, 1988, informed the Director of School Education, West Bengal that the State Government prima fade had decided to declare Krishnath College School, Berhampore, Dist. Murshidabad, as a Govt. 5. Subsequently, the Assistant Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal, Education Branch, by his Memo No. 1104-Edn (S)/C-32/86 dated 19th December, 1988, informed the Director of School Education, West Bengal that the State Government prima fade had decided to declare Krishnath College School, Berhampore, Dist. Murshidabad, as a Govt. Sponsored Institution subject to the condition that no additional financial involvement was required for such conversion (Annexure 'D') and the Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal, Education Department, Secondary Branch, by his Memo No. 45-Edn (S)/7C-S/86 dated 13th January, 1989, addressed to the Director of School Education, West Bengal, informed him that the State Government had received reports from time to time that the affairs of the Krishnath College School, a premier and renowned Institution of the District of Murshidabad, were not being managed properly and had a drawing and disbursing officer in the recent past and the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education also appointed the District Magistrate as the Administrator of the School with effect from 30th April, 1988 and since the District Magistrate Murshidabad, had recommended that the school be taken over as a sponsored Institution and as the District Inspector of School (Secondary Education) Murshidabad, West Bengal and the Sabhadhipati, Zilla Parished, Murshidabad, had also agreed with such proposal and/or recommendation, the State Government had been pleased to decide that the Krishnath College School be taken over as a Sponsored Institution with immediate effect and appointed the District Magistrate as the Administrator of such sponsored Institution till the managing committee/adhoc committee thereof is constituted, and the necessary Notification was also published in the official gazette on January 19, 1989, being Notification No. 46-Edn (S)/7C-32/86 to the said effect. The petitioners in the present civil order, have challenged the said decision of the State Government including the above Notification declaring the Krishnath College School as a Sponsored Institution. The civil order has been opposed by the respondent No.4, namely, the Administrator or Berhampore College School, by filing affidavit-in-opposition supporting such declaration and the respondent Nos. 1 and 2 have also contested the civil order by finding a joint affidavit-in-opposition also supporting the State Government action in the matter. The civil order has been opposed by the respondent No.4, namely, the Administrator or Berhampore College School, by filing affidavit-in-opposition supporting such declaration and the respondent Nos. 1 and 2 have also contested the civil order by finding a joint affidavit-in-opposition also supporting the State Government action in the matter. Apart from supporting the State Government action, the said respondents have also raised the maintainability of the writ by the petitioners on the ground that the wards of the petitioners are no longer students of the Berhampore Krishnath College School and as such the petitioners cannot claim to be the guardians of their wards in the said school any more. 6. Heard Mr. Banerjee for the petitioner, Mr. Ghosh for the respondent Nos. 1 and 2 and Mrs. Biswas for the respondent No.4. 7. Rule 2(g) of the Management of Recognised Non-Government Institutions (Aided and unaided) Rules, 1969 defines a Sponsored Institution as follows :- "2(g) "Sponsored Institution" means an Institution which is declared as such by the State Government by a Notification published in the Official Gazette." In the proviso to the said Rule, it is, however, stated that an Institution is not to be declared as a Sponsored Institution unless it is (i) established by the State Government with or without aid and co-operation from others or unless (ii) taken over by the State Government with the consent of the majority of persons for the time being in-charge of its management for its being maintained by the State Government in so far as its financial deficit is concerned completely by grant-in-aid. Although it is stated in the writ application that such Institution was founded and managed through private persons and was never established or founded by the State of West Bengal, in face, Krishnath College School, which was established in November, 1853 A.D., in pursuance of the then Government Educational Policy and in response to the public demand, was originally a Government Institution, as would appear from the Indenture dated 5th December, 1904 executed by and between the Secretary of State for India of the First part, Maharaja Manindra Chandra Nandi, since deceased, of the Second part and the Committee mentioned therein, namely, the Maharaja, the District Magistrate of Murshidabad, the District Judge of Murshidabad, the Government Inspector of Schools, Presidency Circle and late Baikunta Nath Sen of the Third part by which the properties of the schools were banded over to the laid Board of Management. It would also appear that the Government of India in or about the year 1853 established and founded at Berhampore the Saddar Station of the District Murshidabad, a College and in connection therewith a Collegiate School for the education and tution of Indian students, which college and school collectively were commonly called and known as the Berhampore College but subsequently, known as Krishnath College, Berhampore and the said college, its site, building, library and furniture were vested in the Government of India as the proprietors thereof, and the said college, prior to 27th June, 1877, was maintained by the Government of India and the salaries of its teaching staff were also paid by the Government of India, but subsequently as the Government of India contemplated to do away with the said Institution entirely and not to maintain the same. Maharani Swarnomoyee, since decided of Cossimbazar Raj Estate, the widow and heiress of late Raja Kristo Nath Roy and the maternal aunt of the Maharaja Mahindra Chandra Nandi, being desirous that the said college should not be abandoned or closed but should continue to be maintained and kept up, made an arrangement on or about the 27th June, 1877 with the Government under which, the Government as an experimental measure, transferred the management of the said college for a term of five years to the Maharani. On the death of Maharani Swarnomoyee on 25th August, 1897, Maharaja Mahindra Chandra Nandi who become the owner of the entire Raj estate being the heir and/or reversioner of her husband late Maharaja Kristo Nath Roy, was desirous of maintaining the said college and whereas in consideration of the success which had been attained by the College since the experiment referred to above had been started a further arrangement had been arrived at by and between the Government and the Maharaja for the permanent transfer of the said college together with its all funds to the Maharaja for the purpose as mentioned in the aforesaid Indenture and a provision in perpetuity was created by the Maharaja and his heirs of a sum not exceeding Rs.20,000/- annually for the maintenance of the teaching staff and other establishments of the said college and it was agreed that payment of the said annual sum should be secured and the college should be managed and maintained by the Maharaja and his heirs subject to the control and superintendence of and as per the advice of the Board of Management constituted as the proprietors of the college in that said Indenture, as referred to above. 8. It cannot therefore, be said that the Institution in question was never a Government Institution, but for all practical purpose the said Institution ceased to be a Government Institution as it was transferred to the Cossimbazar Raj Estate and was kept under its management permanently with effect from 1904 as would appear from the aforesaid Indenture dated 5th December, 1904. According, had there been a Government decision declaring the Krishnath College School, Berhampur, as a 'Sponsored Institution' stating that the school was established by the State Government with or without aid or co-operation from others as provided in clause (i) of the proviso to the Rule 2(g) of the Management of Recognised Non-Government Institution (aided and unaided) Rules, 1969, the same could not be said to be illegal on the ground that the school in question was not established by the Government or that it was never a Government Institution, although in fact, since 1904, the said Institution ceased to be a Government Institution any more because of the facts as stated above and the Indenture being Annexure-'A' to the affidavit-in-opposition filed by the respondent No. 4. 9. 9. In the present case, however, the decision taken by the State Government for declaring the above Institution as a 'Sponsored Institution' was made not on the ground that it was established by the Government, but on the ground that the Institution was not being managed properly for sometime past and the District Magistrate, Murshidabad recommended that the Institution should be declared to be a sponsored Institution, which recommendation was also endorsed by the District Inspector of Schools, Murshidabad and the Sabhadhipati Zillaparisad, Murshidabad, and on such recommendation, the Government had decided to declare the said Institution as a Sponsored Institution. So, it is now to be seen as to whether in making such declaration, which was done really under clause (ii) of the proviso of the said Rule 2(g) and not under Clause (i) of the said proviso, the statutory conditions of the said Clause (ii) were followed. 10. Rule 2(g) of the Management of Recognised Non-Government Institutions (aided and unaided) Rules, 1969 is quoted below:- "2(g) "Sponsored Institution" means an .institution which is declared as such by the State Government by a Notification published in the Official Gazette; Provided that an institution shall not be declared as a sponsored institution unless it is – (i) established by the State Government with or without aid or co-operation from others, or (ii) taken over by the State Government with the consent of the majority of persons for the time being in charge of its management for its being maintained by the State Government in so far as its financial deficit is concerned, completely by grant-in-aid". 11. From the wordings of the above clause (ii) it is thus quite clear, that only with the consent of the majority of the persons for the time being in change of the management of an Institution, it can be declared as a 'Sponsored Institution' for its being maintained by the Government so far as its financial deficit is concerned, by grant-in-aid. At the relevant time, when the necessary declaration converting the Krishnath College School. Berhampore into a Sponsored Institution by the impugned memorandum and the notification was made, the District Magistrate, Murshidabad was in charge of the management of the said school as the Administrator appointed by the Board of Secondary Education, West Bengal and it was be, who recommended for such conversion and there was no managing committee of the institution in power. Berhampore into a Sponsored Institution by the impugned memorandum and the notification was made, the District Magistrate, Murshidabad was in charge of the management of the said school as the Administrator appointed by the Board of Secondary Education, West Bengal and it was be, who recommended for such conversion and there was no managing committee of the institution in power. The management of the school, was thus, not in the bands of any body of persons but in the hand of a single individual only. Accordingly, it cannot be said that the institution was taken over by the State Government with the consent of the majority of persons for the time being in charge of its management. A single individual person being the Administrator of an Institution cannot be deemed to be representing the majority of the persons for the time being in charge of the management of an Institution, nor such a person can be equated with she majority members of the regular managing committee of the Institution, had there been such a regular managing Committee functioning at the relevant time. The District Magistrate, Murshidabad was appointed as the sole Administrator of the school and was acting as such in supersession of the regular managing committee of the school at the relevant time and as such, his recommendation could not be termed as a recommendation of the majority of the body of person for the time being in charge of the management of the school because there was no scope for considering or countering such recommendation or proposal in any meeting of such body of persons in charge of the management of the Institution at the relevant time. Secondly, the impugned Notification being Annexure 'F' to the writ application and also being Annexure 'Y' to the affidavit-in-opposition filed by the respondent No. 4 merely says that the Governor in terms of Rule 2(g) of the Rules for Management of Recognised Non-Government institutions (aided and unaided) Rule, 1969 is pleased to declare the Krishnath College School, Berhampore District Murshidabad to be a 'Sponsored Institution' with immediate effect. It does not say as to whether the Institution is declared as a Sponsored Institution so far as its financial deficit is concerned only, as it would be clear from the wordings of clause (ii) or the proviso to Rule 2(g) of the aforesaid Rules, that when the Institution is taken over by the State Government with the consent of the majority of the persons for the time being in-charge of its management it is so taken for its being managed by the State Government in so far as its financial deficit is concerned, completely by grant-in-aid and not for any other purpose. Declaration of an Institution as a Sponsored Institution under the aforesaid clause (ii), therefore does not mean that the Government could declare such an Institution as a Sponsored Institution even for the management of the said School. 12. Accordingly, even if a single man Administrator of a school be deemed to be representing the entire managing committee of the school or majority of its members and his recommendation may also be deemed to be the recommendation of such managing committee itself for declaring the school as a 'Sponsored Institution', on such a recommendation, the school can be declared as a Sponsored Institution for the purpose of controlling the financial side of the school only, but the Government cannot have any control over the general administration of the school by such declaration. Since I have already discussed and observed hereinbefore, that a single man Administrator of a school cannot be equated with the managing committee of such school nor the decision of such an Administrative can be said to the decision of the majority members of such managing committee, on the recommendation of such single man Administrator, the State Government cannot declare an Institution to be a Sponsored Institution in terms of clause (ii) to the proviso to Rule 2(g) of the aforesaid Rule and as such the impugned orders and the notifications are wholly illegal and cannot be sustained in law and hence the same are set aside and or quashed. The Civil Order is thus allowed without any order as to costs. Let a writ be issued accordingly.