SRINAGAR: The High Court of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh has upheld the power of the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (BOSE) to mandate the use of Board-prescribed textbooks in affiliated private schools, dismissing an appeal filed by the JK Private Schools United Front against the policy.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Sindhu Sharma and Justice Shahzad Azeem delivered the judgment on June 6, 2026, in LPA No. 241/2023, affirming an earlier Single Judge ruling passed on September 8, 2023.
The appeal had challenged a series of notifications and circulars issued by the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education making BOSE textbooks compulsory for Classes VI to VIII in private schools across the Union Territory.
The appellants were represented by advocates Shakeel Sarwar Wani and Imbisaat Liyaqat, while the respondents were represented by advocates MI Dar, Sana Imam and Laila Khan.
According to the case record, the dispute arose after BOSE issued a notification on August 26, 2022 directing all private schools in Jammu and Kashmir to adopt only those textbooks published by the Board for Classes VI to VIII. Another notification issued on January 4, 2023 reiterated that only BOSE textbooks would be implemented from the ensuing academic session.
Subsequently, education authorities sought reports from schools regarding implementation of the Board curriculum and initiated inquiries into complaints that some private schools were allegedly compelling parents to buy books from private publishers.
The private schools’ body argued before the court that while BOSE had the authority to prescribe syllabi and curricula, it could not compel schools to exclusively use textbooks published by the Board itself. It also contended that parents, schools and students should retain the freedom to choose better-quality books available in the market.
Rejecting the contention, the Division Bench held that the statutory powers granted to BOSE under the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education Act, 1975 and the Jammu and Kashmir School Education Act, 2002 clearly empowered it to prescribe textbooks for affiliated institutions.
The court observed: “The power to prescribe textbooks necessarily includes the authority to determine which books are to be used in affiliated schools.”
It further held that merely because the Board itself publishes the textbooks “does not, by itself, render the action arbitrary or ultra vires, so long as the prescription is supported by the statute and guided by educational policy considerations.”
The Bench emphasized that once a school voluntarily seeks affiliation with BOSE, it becomes bound by the conditions governing such affiliation, including adherence to the prescribed curriculum and textbooks.
“Once an educational institution voluntarily seeks and obtains affiliation from the Board, it is bound by the terms and conditions of such affiliation,” the court said.
The judgment also underlined that regulation of education and prescription of curricula constituted a “valid and reasonable restriction” in public interest aimed at maintaining academic standards and ensuring uniformity in educational content across the Union Territory.
Referring to previous Supreme Court rulings, the court observed that matters relating to educational policy primarily fall within the domain of expert and regulatory bodies and that judicial interference is warranted only where a policy is “manifestly arbitrary, unreasonable, or contrary to statute.”
The Bench concluded that the impugned notifications and circulars were uniformly applicable across Jammu and Kashmir and were intended to maintain educational uniformity.
Dismissing the appeal, the court upheld the legality of the BOSE directives and affirmed the earlier judgment of the Single Judge.
