Prateek Tanmay
Months after one of its students died in a stabbing incident, a private school, whose management was given back to it recently, here has been served two show-cause notices for ‘discrepancies’ in information it had shared with government authorities.
This development comes after advocate general (AG) Kamal Trivedi, on April 28, informed the Gujarat High Court that the state would be withdrawing its December order taking over the school’s management.
In August last year, a Class 10 student, who was enrolled at the school’s Maninagar campus, died after being stabbed by a schoolmate. Following the incident, the school management was issued several show-cause notices.
The fresh notices on the minority school, which has two campuses in Haripura Khokhra and Maninagar, were issued by the Director, Primary Education and the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) on May 14 and 16, respectively. The school has been asked to respond to them by May 25 and 29.
Citing the Mumbai Primary Education Rules, 1949 and the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Act, 1972, one of the notices seeks information on the ‘approval from competent authorities’ to run two schools—at Haripura and Maninagar (near Church)—and additional classes.
The notices have also sought details of the minority certificate issued to the school and clarity on the trust that manages the school, which “is not clear”. The documents submitted to the district education officer mentioned ‘The India Financial Association of Seventh Day Adventists’, ‘The Council of Seventh-Day Adventist Educational Institutions’ and ‘Ashlok Education Trust’, one of the notices said.
“As per a letter shared by the school on June 12, 2025, informing students about the admission process for the academic year 2025-26, there are two schools mentioned-Haripura Campus and Maninagar Campus. Whether approval/certificate has been obtained for both these schools? If not, why should legal action not be taken…” it added.
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Also, there are ‘discrepancies’ in terms of the school’s location.
The management has also been asked to submit details of its ICSCE affiliation, allowing it to run classes from IX to XII in Maninagar.
The Maninagar campus has more than 10,000 students enrolled in its primary and secondary sections. While the school is affiliated to CISCE for Classes 1 to 12, it also has the state board’s approval to run the science stream for students of Classes 11 and 12.
The education department has demanded information on whether any prior approval of the competent authority to run the school in two shifts was obtained.
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“Who is the owner…and if there is a rental agreement other than the lease deed… The land on which the school is situated was donated by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation to The India Financial Association of Seventh Day Adventists for educational purposes. The school is managed by a separate organisation named The Council of Seventh-Day Adventist Educational Institutions/Ashlok Education Trust. As per CISCE rules, the school should be managed by a single registered society, trust or a company that is not run for profit motive,’ it added.
Other details sought are the building plan, building use permission (BUP), and fire NOC.
Meanwhile, the school management has also been accused of violating the Gujarat Self-Financed Schools (Regulation of Fees) Act, 2017, which prohibits profiteering from selling books on school premises.
On April 28, the AG informed the division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice D N Ray that the state government had decided to withdraw its order dated December 15, 2025, by which it had taken over the management of a minority school in Ahmedabad.
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In an oral order dictated in open court, the HC said, “…as regard two inquiries initiated against the petitioners, reply has been submitted by the learned Advocate General that both the inquiry reports, by the district education officer and a committee constituted by the Director of Primary Education, shall be supplied to the petitioners calling for their explanation, and a decision in accordance with law shall thereafter be taken after providing due opportunity of hearing to the petitioners… to this extent, no objection has been raised by the learned Senior Counsel for the petitioners…”
The court, while disposing of the appeal of the school, said, “However, it is kept open for the petitioner to approach this court again in case of any grievances left with the issues, subject matter of the present petition…”
Also, the court clarified that it had not examined the merits of the case and that all rights and contentions of the parties were kept open.
