Kashmir Impulse Desk

Srinagar, June 24

The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has upheld the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education’s (JKBOSE) authority to prescribe textbooks for affiliated schools, ruling that private institutions voluntarily affiliated with the board cannot insist on using alternative books in place of those approved by the regulator.

A division bench of Justices Sindhu Sharma and Shahzad Azeem dismissed an appeal filed by the J&K Private Schools United Front, affirming an earlier single-judge ruling that JKBOSE acted within its statutory powers in directing affiliated schools to use only textbooks published and prescribed by the board.

The dispute arose after JKBOSE issued notifications requiring private schools affiliated with the board to adopt its textbooks for Classes VI to VIII. Private schools challenged the move, arguing that they should be permitted to use alternative publications.

The High Court held that the powers granted to JKBOSE under the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education Act, 1975, and the Jammu and Kashmir School Education Act, 2002, include the authority to prescribe courses, curricula, syllabi, and textbooks for schools under its jurisdiction.

The judges observed that the power to determine the curriculum necessarily extends to prescribing textbooks and that affiliated institutions are bound by the conditions attached to their affiliation.

The court also noted that the board’s Affiliation Committee had resolved that all affiliated schools must follow textbooks and curricula approved by JKBOSE.

Rejecting the petitioners’ challenge, the bench said the notifications were aimed at ensuring academic quality, uniformity in education, and consistency in instruction across Jammu and Kashmir.

It ruled that the board’s decision did not violate constitutional guarantees of equality under Article 14, describing the notifications as general directions uniformly applicable to all affiliated schools rather than arbitrary measures targeting any particular institution.

The court reiterated the long-established judicial principle that matters relating to educational policy fall primarily within the domain of expert and regulatory bodies and should not ordinarily be interfered with by courts unless found to be arbitrary, unreasonable, or contrary to law.

The judgment also underscored the state’s responsibility to regulate education through prescribed curricula and textbooks in pursuit of quality education and broader public interest.

Concluding that no legal infirmity existed either in the board’s notifications or in the earlier judgment, the division bench dismissed the appeal, reaffirming JKBOSE’s authority over curriculum and textbook prescriptions for all affiliated schools.