JAMMU, June 6: The High Court has upheld the authority of the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education to prescribe textbooks for affiliated private schools, paving the way for a uniform textbook system and reducing the burden of unapproved private books on students.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Sindhu Sharma and Justice Shahzad Azeem dismissed the Letters Patent Appeal filed by J&K Private Schools United Front and affirmed the judgment of the Single Judge, who had earlier upheld the JKBOSE directions mandating Board-published textbooks for Classes VI to VIII in private schools affiliated with the Board.
The High Court further held that the JKBOSE notifications and circulars were general directions applicable uniformly to all affiliated institutions and could not be termed arbitrary or violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.
It observed that matters of educational policy primarily fall within the domain of expert and regulatory bodies, and judicial interference is warranted only where such policy is manifestly arbitrary, unreasonable or contrary to statute.
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