A G ABRAHAM Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The point that arises for decision in this case is, whether the protected teachers will lose seniority in their parent school on being deployed to Government schools or whether they can count the period of their deployment also for the purpose of reckoning seniority in their parent school.

(2.) The brief facts of the case are the following:

(3.) According to the petitioners, since the 4th respondent does not have continuous service in the post of High School Assistant, and as her service is broken between 16.12.1997 and 31.5.1999, she is junior to them. The 4th respondent filed a counter affidavit claiming that a protected teacher has got a lien in the school and therefore, though she served outside, she should be treated as continuing in her parent school for the purpose of seniority and promotion. According to her, she was only transferred from her school to Government Higher Secondary School and she was working on work arrangement basis and therefore, her seniority is in no way affected. During the pendency of the writ petition, there was more than one interim order passed by the Single Bench, but it is unnecessary to refer to those orders or to the various petitions and affidavits filed in the writ petition. The learned Single Judge who heard the writ petition, noticing the alleged conflict between various decisions rendered by this Court referred the matter to be heard by the Division Bench. The Division Bench, which heard the matter referred the case to be heard by a larger Bench. The Division Bench took the view that, the matter requires hearing by a larger Bench in view of the observations in the Full Bench decisions of this Court in Sasidharan Nair v. State of Kerala, 2003 1 KerLT 998 (FB) and Pushparaj v. Manoharan, 2006 2 KerLT 951 (FB). 4. First, we will consider, whether in view of the above Full Bench decisions, the point that arises for consideration in this case has to be referred to a larger Bench. The decision in Sasidharan Nair's case (supra) was concerning the following point: