KAMINI BHARADWAJ Vs. SANKARA EDUCATION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) PETITIONER has filed the instant petition for direction to the respondent authorities not to retire her as contemplated in the impugned order dated 14-11-2007 (annexure p-2) with effect from 8-2-2008 and quash the impugned order.

(2.) UNDISPUTED facts of the case are that the respondent education society is running an unaided private school namely sri Sankara Vidyalaya in Sector-10, Bhilai, Distt. Durg. The petitioner was initially appointed temporarily on honorarium as Assistant Teacher in the year 1992 on probation for a period of 6 months. Thereafter, she was regularized and subsequently confirmed. She was served with the impugned notice dated 14-11-2007 whereby she was informed that she shall be superannuating on 8-2-2008.

(3.) LEARNED counsel for the petitioner submits that as per sub-rule (1) of Rule 56 of the Fundamental Rules of Section 2 of M. P. Sashkiya Sewak Adhivarshikiya Ayu Adhiniyam, 1997, the age of retirement of the similarly situated employees of the state is 62 years. Therefore, her retirement at the age of 58 years is arbitrary, discriminatory and violative of her constitutional right. The Society also served notice to one ramkishun Gendre working as Gardner in the school on his attaining the age of 60 years vide order dated 15-11-2007 (Annexure RJ-1 ). There is no provision of superannuation age of the employees in the service conditions framed by the institution on 11-9-1998 and 1-10-2007, therefore the service condition of its employees shall be governed by the service condition applicable to the similarly situated employees of the State Government. The institution is affiliated with central Board of Secondary Education (for short, CBSE ). Chapter 7 of the Affiliation Byelaws deals with service rules of the employees. Clause 10 of Affiliation Byelaws of CBSE deals with staff and service conditions. It was further argued that the institution is permanently affiliated with the CBSE. The affiliation byelaws specifically provide that school should have well defined conditions of service as per norms of the State/union Territory. Each school has to frame service rules for its employees, which is to be as per the Education act of the State/ Union Territory, if the Act makes adoption of the same obligatory, otherwise as per the service rules given in the said byelaws. Clause 30 provides for retirement of the employees, according to which, the age of superannuation has been mentioned as 60 years. She further submits that if the age of superannuation falls during the academic session, the concerned employee shall retire at the end of academic session. The above clause also provides for grant of extension by the Managing Committee. It was argued that since the institution has not framed service rules for its employees as per the Education Act of the State and the act does not make adoption of the same obligatory, the service of the petitioner shall be governed by Affiliation Byelaws of cbse.