KUNHAMINA UMMA Vs. PARU AMMA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner is a teacher in the St. Mary's High school, Alwaye, who has been aggrieved by the approved list fixing the seniority as between the teachers of the School. In a prior writ petition, O. P. No. 3141 of 1965, this Court directed that the District Educational Officer, alwaye will give provisional approval in accordance with law to the seniority list of teachers within two months from the date of the order on that writ petition. THE 9th respondent in this writ petition, the Manager of the School, had submitted the seniority list of teachers to the 3rd respondent as required by R. 35 of Chapter XIV-A of the Kerala Education Rules. In the list so submitted by the 9th respondent the petitioner was placed above respondents 4 to 8. Ext. P2 is the order of the 3rd respondent giving provisional approval to the list, as submitted by the Manager. It will be seen from the same that the 3rd respondent made necessary changes in the list, revised the serial numbers of the teachers as arranged in the list, and also their seniority to some extent. With the modifications thus effected, the seniority list was provisionally approved and it was directed to be circulated among the members of the staff of the 9th respondent's school, for submission in writing of complaints and representations, if any. Complaints and representations were received inter alia from the present petitioner, and were dealt with again by ext. P3 order of the 3rd respondent. In the said order the 3rd respondent stated that the contentions urged by the petitioner had also been put forward by the Manager, when he submitted the seniority list for provisional approval and had been found against by the 3rd respondent in Ext. P2 proceedings. THEy were again considered, but the 3rd respondent did not think it necessary to make any change in the seniority list. This order of the 3rd respondent was confirmed on Appeal, by the Regional Deputy Director of Public Instruction in ext. P4 order. THE petitioner seeks to quash Exts. P2, P3, and P4 orders.

(2.) THE relevant statutory provisions dealing with the provisional approval of the seniority list submitted by the management of the school, and the finalisation of the said list are contained in R. 34, 35, 36 and 38 of Chapter XIV-A of the Kerala Education Rules. THEse rules in so far as they are material read as follows: "34. Seniority List. Every management shall prepare and maintain in the prescribed form a staff list, otherwise called Seniority list, of Teachers. 35. If the Educational Agencies have more than one school in a District, they shall be constituted into one unit and a common seniority list shall be prepared for all the schools in the unit together and shall be submitted to the concerned District Educational Officer for approval. If the educational Agencies have schools in more than one District within a Region they shall be constituted as one unit and a common seniority list shall be prepared for all the schools in the unit together and submitted to the concerned Region Deputy Director for approval. If the Educational Agencies have schools in more than one Region they shall be constituted as one unit and a common seniority list shall be prepared for all the schools together and shall be submitted to the Director for approval. THE District Educational Officer, the Regional Deputy director and the Director, as the case may be, may approve the list provisionally pending finalisation of appeals, if any, preferred by the aggrieved teachers.