Mst. Khadija & another Vs BISE Bannu

WDGMENT SHEET

IN THE PESHAWAR HIGH COURT,

BANITU BEITCH

(Judicial Dcpartmcnt)

W.P No.253-1r12023

Mst. Khadija & anothcr Vs The Controlling Authority, lllSf,, ctc

JUDGMENT

Datc of hcaring: 18.04.2023

lfor Pctitioner(s) : Mr. Rahmat-ul-Haq Khanan Khcl Advocatc

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DR. KHURSHID IOBAL, J.-- 7.ahid tjllah Khan and his wifc Mrs. Khadija, arc rcspcctivcly principal and vicc principal of Azccm Public I Iigh School and Collcge situatcd, situalcd on thc main I).l.Khan lload, in I)istrict Ilannu. 'lhrough thc instant writ pctition undcr Articlc 199 of thc Constitution, thcy scck thc issuancc of an appropriatc writ to rcspondcnts No.2 to 5 to constitutc thcir school and collcgc as cxamination hall for thc upcoming lloard's cxamination for Gradcs IX and X.

2.I'acts shonly arc that thc pctitioncrs havc as many as 99 fcmalc studcnts, bclonging to dil'lbrcnt arcas. 'l'hcy contcnd that, as usual, for conduction ol cxaminations of studcnts of Class IX and X, thc Iloard ol Intcrmcdiatc & Sccondary I')ducation, llannu (lllSli / rcspondcnts)

constitutc thc samc school as thcir cxamination hall.

I lowcvcr, thc rcspondcnts havc dcclarcd thc (iovcmmcnt I lighcr Sccondary School Ismail Khcl, as thc cxamination hall for thc aforcsaid cxaminations, which arc schcdulcd to commcncc lrom 211.04.2023. 'l'hcir contcntion is that thc cxamination hall in Ismail Khcl is at a long distancc, whcrcas thcir own school is morc acccssiblc to thc studcnts. 'l'hcy furthcr contcnd that according to Chaptcr-Xll of thc rclcvant Itulcs titlcd as "Conslitution of Ilxamination Ccntrcs", thc minimum numbcr of candidatcs likcly to appcar in thc ccntrc in thc writtcn cxaminalion is 80 lor boys and 45 lor girls

3.Wc have heard Mr. Rahmat-ul-Ilaq Khanan Khel Advocatc, counscl for thc pctitioncrs and pcruscd thc rccord.

4.'l'wo points arc worth mcntioning. Irirstly, thc dcclaration of an cxamination hall is a privilcgc of thc Chairman ol'thc tloard, as pcr thc rulcs rclcrrcd to abovc Itulc-3 rcads as undcr:

"3. Notwithstanding anything to thc contrary in thcsc rulcs, thc Chairman shall havc the powcr to constitute a place as a ccntrc of cxamination under spccial circumstanccs on such tcrms as

may bc dctcrmined by him."

5.Sccondly, thc pctitioncrs submittcd an application to thc Conlrollcr of thc IllSIi on 11.04.2023 in which thcy rncntioncd 74 studcnts of IX Class and 25 of X Class (total 99). 'l'hcy havc not mcntioncd thc numbcr of thc femalc students and that thosc studcnts will suffcr i[ thcy go to thc cxamination in thc school of villagc Ismail Khcl. 'l'hc total number of thc studcnts docs no1 appear to mcct thc targct mcntioncd in llulc-l (2) o[ thc Rulcs, rcl'crrcd to abovc. 'l.hc pctitioncrs havc not anncxcd any documcntary proof to show that carlicr, thcir school has bccn dcclared as ccntrc for thc cxamination.

6.In thc casc titlcd as 'Khvher Meclical Universilv untl olhers Vs Aimal Khan and others" (PLD 2022 reme Courl 92 , it has bccn hcld that

4.Il has heen time and again held by this Court thot courts musl sparingly interfere in the internal governance and affairs of educotional instilutions. // r's simply prudent thut the courts keep their hantls off educational motlers and uvoitl tlislotlging decisions of the university a ulh or i ties, w ho possess tech n ical expertise and experience of

aclual day to day workings of lhe educational institulions. Every university has the right to set out its disciplinory ond other policies in accordance with law, and unless any such policy offends the fundamental rights oJ' the students or violates any low, inlerference by the courts results in disrupting the smooth functioning and governance of the universily. It is, therefore, best lo leave the disciplinary, administralive and policy matters of the universilies or educational inslilutions to the professionul expertise of the people running them, unless of course there is o violation of any of the

fundamental righls or any law.

5.This self-restraint by the courts in molter of educational inslilutions ,s based 0n the wisdom that academic freedom and institutional autonomy of lhe universiries must be protected and safeguarded. Academic freedom is not merely liberly from restraints on thoughl, expression, and association in the university, hut also thot the

university should have the freedom to make decisions about lhe eclucational mallers including tlisciplinary matters. As "it is lhe business of a universily to provide that atmosphere which is mosl conducive to speculation, experiment and crealion. Il is an otmosphere in which there prevail 'lhe four essential freedoms' of o university; who may leach, what may be taughl, how it shall be taught and who may be admitled to study."

7.Although, thc facts of thc abovc citcd case pcrtain to an issuc ariscn in a lJniversity, but thc principlc laid down thcrein is that thc Court should no1 intcrferc in thc intcrnal govcmancc of an cducational institution. 'l'his principlc is attractcd to thc facts and circumstanccs o[ thc casc in hand. 'l'hc constitution of an cxamination hall is thc lunction of thc rcspondcnts. We arc of'thc vicw that thc constitution of cxamination hall is thc cxpcrtisc of thc rcspondcnts, which thcy should havc a right to usc in thc manncr as thcy dccm propcr, unlcss it infringcs on thc lundamcntal rights of thc studcnts.

8.In thc light ofthc abovc facts and lcgal principlc, wc find no forcc in thc instant writ pctition. 'l'hc samc is dismisscd in limine.

Announccd t8.04.2023 (Ghafinr Zonan)

Date of writins of iudsment:

l9'h of lpril, 2023 h-_- ^.-.-\l

JUDGE

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(D.t ) llon'ble Mr. lustice l"azol Subhutr llon'ble Mr. Juslice Dt. Khurshii lqbol