Schools inculcating right values in children need not worry about bars in vicinity: Bombay High Court

If moral values imparted by schools are upto the standards envisaged by father of nation, Mahatma Gandhi, then they have nothing to worry about students being adversely influenced by bars in their vicinity, the Bombay High Court recently observed (Devram Sawleram Mundhe v. State of Maharashtra)..Single-judge bench Justice GS Kulkarni, therefore, refused to interfere with the liquor license granted to a restaurant near a school. The Court said that the petitioners who run educational institutions should not have formed an opinion that education being imparted by their institution was “so fragile that the students would get easily influenced by a restaurant serving liquor in the vicinity”..“If the quality of learning and inculcation of moral values in the children is to be of a standard, as what the ‘Father of the Nation’ intended to imbibe in our citizens, then the petitioner’s institution ought not to have worried at all, about any student being adversely affected, by any such place in the vicinity of the school,” he added..The order was passed on a plea filed by one Devram Mundhe and two other social workers, challenging an order of the State excise department granting liquor license to Hotel Moonlight, a restaurant near a school run by the petitioners for tribal students. The owner of Hotel Moonlight had applied to transfer his liquor license and the Pune Collector rejected the prayer based on objections raised by the petitioners on the ground that there is likelihood of a law and order situation.On appeal, the State Excise Commissioner granted the license noting that there had been no law and order situation and that the restaurant was beyond the 75 metre statutory distance from the school.After the Principal Secretary of State Excise Department also upheld this order, the petitioners approached the High Court through a writ petition..The Court, however, noted that there was another restaurant called Hotel Anand, holding a similar liquor license and situated 375 metres from the main entrance of the institute, and the school had not objected to the same so far.It also noted that there had not been a law and order situation so far, as was already observed by the Commissioner.In view of these factual observations, Justice Kulkarni found no merit in the case and proceeded to reject the same..Before concluding the order, Justice Kulkarni emphasised on the important obligation on an education institutions to create students with strong moral values to prepare them for the tougher journeys and challenges in life and to create ‘ideal citizens’.“It is an onerous obligation for an educational institution to devote itself in building a robust society by imparting creative education at the school level which ought not to be overlooked. It is thus a sincere hope, that these words fall on the receptive ears of the institution and the institution creates a situation for itself, that it would feel proud of its students," Justice Kulkarni said..Advocates PN Joshi and Milind Deshmukh appeared for the petitioners. Government Pleader PP Kakade appeared for the State. Advocate Moinuddin M Khan appeared for owners of Hotel Moonlight..[Read order]