Bombay High Court (Kolhapur Circuit Bench), coram Madhav J. Jamdar and Pravin S. Patil, JJ. (oral judgment per Patil, J.), 06-04-2026, disposed of a batch of eighteen writ petitions (lead matter: Writ Petition No. 9315 of 2024) raising a common issue under the Shalarth Pranali / Shalarth ID scheme for grant-in-aid institutions in Maharashtra. Held: (i) where the Education Officer has granted approval and proposals stand forwarded to the Deputy Director/Director of Education, the latter must decide all pending proposals within the time limits fixed by the revised Government Resolution dated 10th June 2022; (ii) under clauses 3.1 and 3.2 of that Resolution the Deputy Director/Director of Education may revoke or reject an approval only on account of fraud, misrepresentation or suppression of facts — he must first record reasons, issue a specific show-cause notice to the employee, management, school and the approving officer, afford hearing, and pass a reasoned order; failure to follow this procedure, or cryptic rejection, amounts to disobedience of the Resolution and renders the rejection liable to be quashed; fraud must be proved after inquiry and evidence, mere allegation or inference not sufficing; (iii) although the co-ordinate Benches in Amol Baban Sangar (2022 (2) Bom.C.R. 484) and Vijay Chavan, relying on the Government Resolution dated 7/11/2012, held that the Deputy Director/Director cannot review an approval, this Court holds that revisit is permissible on the basis of the later Government Resolution dated 10th June 2022; (iv) under the MEPS Act, 1977 and Rules, approval of each appointment is not statutorily mandatory and bears only on release of grant-in-aid (relying on the Full Bench in St. Ulai High School, (2007) 1 Mh.L.J. 597); (v) the Maharashtra Government Servant Regulation of Transfers and Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act, 2005 (Sections 8-10) and the Maharashtra Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Rules, 2013 (Rules 3, 4 and 13) must be strictly enforced against defaulting education officers. Directions issued: pending proposals to be decided within 30 days; impugned rejection orders quashed; Citizens Charter to be framed forthwith; powers delegated and published for disciplinary action; the Government Resolution dated 10th June 2022 to be implemented in letter and spirit.
