The Bombay High Court has directed the Unaided Schools Forum, Independent English Schools Association, Private Unaided Schools Association and International Schools Association to inform teachers of its member schools to cooperate with the request made by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to be available for the forthcoming parliamentary election duty.
The court has asked the associations to inform its member-schools to provide information of staff including names and designation as sought by the ECI. The court has clarified that this order is for those member-schools which have received requisition notices.
The HC on April 5 while hearing the petitions by the associations had asked that it furnish information sought by the ECI.
The ECI claimed that despite the court directions, the associations’ member-schools did not furnish any information and several of its teachers were not present for training to be imparted by the polling agency. The ECI said that the April 5 order was “wrongly interpreted by the schools to mean that no coercive action will be taken against any person”.
The ECI, on April 5, had said no coercive steps would be taken and no requisition notice was issued under the Representation of Peoples Act to the schools.
The court, in its order on April 10, noted that the ECI assurance was in the context of the submission made by counsel for the unaided schools that each Association would persuade its members to volunteer themselves for undertaking election duties on the dates scheduled.
A bench headed by Justice AS Chandurkar had directed the three associations to inform all its members to provide information through the collectors to ECI.
