An alarming report in a leading newspaper has propelled the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court to launch suo motu Public Interest Litigation (PIL) proceedings recently. The media report stated, “No Students in 300 Maha Colleges, but staff pocket crores in salaries.” The report that was brought to the court's attention by a member of the Bar, prompted judicial inquiry due to the serious implications involved.

This report highlighted that around 300 colleges in Maharashtra are undeservedly benefitting from government salary grants without any enrolled students. A division bench of Justice Nitin W. Sambre and Justice Sachin S. Deshmukh promptly acted on the gravity of the issue.

Stated the bench, “The news item speaks of 300 colleges in Maharashtra are getting grants towards salary of the staff; however, not a single student has taken admission in it,” The court also described this situation as a “shocking revelation” indicative of both “waste of the public money” and the “mismanagement of educational institutions by the Managements’’.

The bench also highlighted that existing statutory provisions could tackle such discrepancies drawing attention to laws like the Maharashtra Employees of Private Schools (Conditions of Service) Regulation Act, 1981, the Secondary School Code, and the Right to Education Act, 2009, all designed to monitor and rectify employment practices in institutions that are either defunct or under-enrolled.

“In case, if the Management is not getting sufficient number of students in their institutions, the Statute provides for dealing with such situations and the staff of such institutions can be dealt with in accordance with the provisions,” the Bench explained.

Instructing a thorough legal and factual review to be conducted on the issue of 300 junior colleges inexplicably receiving government funding despite having no student enrollment, the court remarked that it, “is admitted even at the State Government level as can be inferred from the news item”.

To ensure the case proceeds effectively, the Bench has appointed Advocate Rahul Ghuge as Amicus Curiae, tasking him to prepare a suitable petition within two weeks. They also instructed Senior Advocate and Government Pleader D.V. Chauhan to assist in this endeavor.

The case is now kept  for further discussion on August 4, 2025.

Case Title: Court on Its Own Motion Vs. The State Of Maharashtra & Others, Suo Motu Public Interest Litigation No. 03/2025