Srinagar: Putting to rest long dispute between Siligam and Aishmuqam villages and the administrative “lethargy” about the establishment of a degree college, the High court of J&K and Ladakh on Thursday directed that the college be established at Aishmuqam, Pahalgam.
Recording his anguish over the “administrative inefficiency”, to solve the matter with sagacity and promptness and save the future of a generation, Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal said “the issue that should have been resolved with promptness and clarity at the executive level, has instead led to prolonged and unnecessary litigation.”
The agonising tale concerns two writ petitions, each seeking the establishment of a proposed Government Degree College at the respective native places of petitioners — Aishmuqam and Siligam — Anantnag.
To this end, the residents of Aishmuqam filed a writ petition in 2018 challenging Government Order No. 300-HE of 2018 dated 24.04.2018, whereby sanction was accorded for the establishment of a Government Degree College at Siligam.
Subsequently, in 2020, the residents of Siligam instituted another writ petition, wherein the petitioners called in question Communication No. GDC/UT/2019/332-334 dated 21.11.2019 issued by the Principal, Government Degree College, Uttersoo, requesting the Chief Education Officer, Anantnag, to provide accommodation for establishing a Government Degree College at Aishmuqam.
This communication formed the foundation of the consequential directive issued by the Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag, vide Communication No. DCA/SQ/19/2955-57 dated 26.11.2019, whereby the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Pahalgam, was mandated to identify suitable accommodation at Aishmuqam for the establishment of the college.
Roots of the instant controversy lie in the year 2012, when the then State government initiated a process for the establishment of a Government Degree College at Aishmuqam.
For this purpose, a committee was constituted pursuant to Government Order No. 328-HE of 2012 dated 13.08.2012, tasked with examining the feasibility of establishing a new Degree College within the identified geographical areas.
The committee was headed by the Director Colleges, Higher Education Department, as chairperson and comprised ten principals of various degree colleges as its members.
After due consideration of relevant parameters, the committee submitted its report recommending the establishment of a Degree College in the Pahalgam area, and proposed Aishmuqam as the location for the said institution.
After passage of much time, a representation was filed by the residents of different villages including that of the residents of Village Siligam, Adhard, and other villages for establishment of a Degree College at Village Siligam.
The representation was considered and the competent authority sanctioned Degree College, Siligam, vide Government Order No. 300-HE of 2018 dated 24.04.2018.
After perusing the record and analysing the contesting arguments for parties, the bench of Justice Nargal expressed its “deep concern over the manner in which the indecisiveness of the government has, for several years, deprived the residents, particularly the students, of the benefits that would have naturally flowed from the timely establishment of the college.”
The bench lamented “what ought to have been a straightforward administrative exercise has, due to repeated contradictions, avoidable delays, and absence of a clear stand, escalated into prolonged litigation, thereby frustrating the very purpose for which the institution was sanctioned.”
An entire generation of students, who could have availed the convenience, accessibility, and academic opportunities offered by a local degree college, has been solely lost solely by the administrative lapses, the court said.
Educational institutions are instruments of social advancement and empowerment but when establishment becomes entangled in prolonged disputes, it is not merely a procedural setback but a loss to the community at large and to the nation’s development, remarked the court.
The uncertainty regarding the site of the proposed college since 2012 has adversely affected students and has, in effect, hindered the very purpose for which the institution was sanctioned, Justice Nargal said.
Recording his anguish, Justice Nargal said, “despite clear factual material and expert recommendations of the two committees constituted for the purpose and the government’s wavering approach has resulted in a loss which cannot be compensated”.
He noted “this court would fall short in its duty if it does not record that such public-oriented issues demand promptness, diligence, and clarity from the government. The prolonged inaction, coupled with the failure to seek vacation of interim orders at the appropriate time, has resulted in avoidable hardship to the community and has undermined the very purpose for which the college was sanctioned.”
The judge said that the students who were entitled to timely access to higher education have been deprived of these benefits solely due to administrative lapses and unnecessary procedural entanglements.
The recommendations by the concerned committees in favour of Aishmuqam are well-reasoned and are supported by material on record.
Accordingly, the court held that the government’s disregard of the report and its continued indecisiveness are patently arbitrary.
“In the present case, both committee reports of the years 2012 and 2018 unequivocally recommended the location of the proposed college at Ashmuqam,” it said.
Notwithstanding the said recommendations, the subsequent executive decision of 2018 to locate the college at Siligam is found to be unsupported by any cogent reasons and is vitiated by manifest arbitrariness and non-application of mind, said the bench.
In these circumstances, and with a view to bring finality to a long-pending controversy and to prevent further litigation, the court deemed it just and proper to direct that the college be established at Ashmuqam, so that a quietus is put to the dispute and the issue is laid to rest once for all.
