Elite Dalhousie school in trouble
Dalhousie/Shimla: The 40-year-old chapter of academic excellence being run by Dalhousie Public School (DPS) may be slammed shut, with a one-man commission of the Himachal Pradesh government recommending vesting of the entire school land located in picturesque Dalhousie, about 350 km from Shimla.
The commission, headed by Justice DP Sood, former judge of the Himachal Pradesh High Court, has made recommendations after finding glaring violations by the school authorities in property transactions and original lease deed. Vesting of the school would mean acquiring the entire premises.
The judicial commission, set up on the recommendation of the state assembly, probed illegal land transactions carried out across the state from 2003 to March 2011.
DPS, established in 1970, attracts NRIs and prominent people from the region. It also has students from foreign countries, including the US, Canada, Britain and several other European nations.
The commission, probing lease deeds relating to the school land, says the school got the land from the government on a lease of 99 years in 1937, with a condition of its renewal after 30 years.
The commission also picks hole in the purchase of 27 hectares land by school authorities Jan 28, 2010.
The report says DPS constituted an educational society, headed by Charanjit Kaur, and purchased land on the basis of the society being an agriculturalist. The school in its reply to the commission says it’s competent to purchase the properties on the basis of an agriculturalist certificate given by the competent government authority Jan 23, 2010.
Sood observes that “the certificate of agriculturalist so issued was in itself an illegality as mere entry in the name of the head of the institution, who is in possession of the property so purchased, does not make the owner in possession an agriculturalist”.
The report says in view of the original ‘patta’ of 1937, the school building so built could not have been erected nor the original building could be sold in view of the terms of the original lease deed. Thus the occupation/sale of the entire premises is illegal and in violation of Section 118 of the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act of 1972.
Category: India
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This is just a tip of iceberg.The illegalities and regulatory violations are rampant are not limited Himachal but across states.The ministry of environment needs to probe the violations in section 4 and 5 land held and encroached in Siswan ,out skirt of Chandigarh where the school reportedly holds over 150 acres of such land.Forest assets are regularly destroyed in the land under section five.Trees are cut to do landscapes for picnics and parties attended by high ranking officials in state.Illegal construction has also been constructed under the blessings of these officials.