Court stays Government guidelines

KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Friday stayed the government guidelines which stipulate that the CBSE schools seeking no-objection certificates should own a minimum of three acres of land and should have functioned for the past five years with at least 300 students.Justice T R Ramachandran Nair issued the interim order on a batch of writ petitions filed by the managements of the CBSE schools challenging the government’s decision.The court also directed the state government to consider on merit the applications submitted by various CBSE school managements without insisting on the two guidelines and pass appropriate orders within six weeks.According to the bylaws, the educational institutions need only two acres of land in rural areas and one acre in metropolitan cities with a population exceeding 24 lakh.The new stipulation in the guidelines would go against the norms of the CBSE, the petitioner submitted.The court pointed out that, when a new norm is introduced, it is only reasonable that enough time is provided to comply with the new guidelines.If the guideline is to be implemented, the schools will have to find another one acre to apply for permission.Prima facie, the two clauses in the guidelines are untenable, the court said.