The Gujarat government has handed back administrative control of the Seventh-day Adventist Higher Secondary School in Ahmedabad to its management, four months after the state took over the institution following a student’s murder and allegations of financial irregularities.
A state government order dated April 30 directed that the school’s administration be restored with immediate effect, though an investigation into the alleged irregularities will continue. “We took over the administration of the school with effect from May 1,” headmistress Mayurika Patel confirmed to UCA News.
The sequence of events began on August 19, 2025, when a Class 10 student was allegedly fatally stabbed by a junior student following a dispute outside the school premises in the Maninagar area of the city. The incident triggered protests, a police investigation, and state scrutiny of the institution’s functioning. In December 2025, the Gujarat government, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, appointed the District Education Officer (DEO) of Ahmedabad as administrator, simultaneously halting fresh admissions.
The DEO’s inquiry accused the school of institutional negligence, lack of clarity regarding the managing trust, profiteering through book sales, operating a shift system without approval, breaching lease conditions, and submitting false affidavits. The management contested these findings and challenged the administrator’s appointment in the Gujarat High Court.
In January 2026, the court made strong observations against the former management, describing the institution as a “money generating machine.” The bench remarked pointedly, “You can at best compensate the parents, but will you be in a position to relieve the dreams? Can it give back the son of someone?”
As proceedings continued into April, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice D.N. Ray found that the probe committee’s report had not been shared with the school, and no show-cause notice had been issued before the takeover. The court held that proceeding without giving the institution a hearing amounted to a violation of natural justice. It also noted that the school is a minority institution protected under the Constitution, expressed concern over the manner in which action had been initiated, and questioned the state’s authority to assume control of such an institution under the Primary Education Act.
The advocate general then gave an undertaking that the state was willing to restore administration to the management within three days. The division bench accepted this and disposed of the petition, granting the management liberty to return to court if further grievances arise.
Patel said the management would cooperate fully with the ongoing probe. “We have nothing to hide,” she said, adding that the allegations in the DEO’s report “are baseless and our position will be vindicated.”
Church leaders accused the state government of targeting Christian educational institutions more broadly. They pointed to a 2021 amendment to a five-decade-old state law that empowered the state education board to set staff qualifications and recruitment procedures in minority-run, state-aided schools. Christian groups challenged the amendment in the Gujarat High Court, lost in 2025, and have since filed an appeal in the Supreme Court, where it remains pending.
Meanwhile, parents of prospective students have sought written assurances from the school that its registration will not be cancelled after they pay admission fees. A parents’ action committee, the Vali Janakrosh Sangharsh Samiti, approached the management demanding clarity. The school’s spokesperson said the management was “working in the interest of students” and that student safety remained the primary responsibility.
