Hyderabad: The Hyderabad High Court has ruled that a collector has no powers to approve the appointment of a school correspondent.

Justice Vilas Afzulpurkar was setting aside an order approving Ms Niraja Giriji as correspondent to Lalgiriji Maheshgiriji Goswamy Vidyalaya (LMG High School), one of the oldest schools in the city.

The LMG High School, located at Shahinayatganj, was established by Maheshgiriji in 1946 in memory of his guru late Sri Lalgiriji, who belonged to the royal family of Gosai community.

In December 1957, the management of the school was transferred to Nutan Viday Samithi after the owners agreed to it. After some time, there were disputes between the managing committee and the owners. Both the parties moved court by filing as many as eight petitions.

The owners opposed the move of the managing committee to hand over the premises to a third party and started efforts to take back possession of the school and appointed Ms Niraja Giriji as correspondent and the appointment was approved by the District Collector.

Meanwhile, the government stepped into the affairs of the school as funds from MPLADs were spent for its development.

The judge dismissed six petitions and allowed two petitions holding that the collector had no authority to pass any order under the AP Education Act.

The judge directed the district educational officer (DEO) to examine the claims of the managing society and the owners with respect to appointment of correspondent of the school and after conducting due enquiry, take an appropriate decision in the matter.

The direction ruled that till final consideration of the matter, the deputy educational officer and the deputy inspector of schools shall continue to be in-charge of the management of the LMG High School. The judge said they shall relinquish their charge in favour of the correspondent, who will be appointed by the DEO.