MANAGER/CORRESPONDENT, V K P HIGHER SECONDARY SCHOOL Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU; DIRECTOR OF SCHOOL EDUCATION; CHIEF EDUCATIONAL OFFICER, NAGERCOIL; DISTRICT EDUCATIONAL OFFICER

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Challenge in this Writ Petition is to the order, dated 24.08.2011, in and by which, the fourth respondent refused to grant approval to the appointment of one B.Gnana Chella Singh, as Headmaster in the petitioner's School and the petitioner also sought for a direction to the fourth respondent to approve the appointment of the said person as Headmaster in the petitioner's school with effect from the date of his appointment viz., 01.06.2011 with salary and all other attendant benefits.

(2.) The case of the petitioner is that the petitioner's school viz., V.K.P. Higher Secondary School, Colachel, Kanyakumari District, is a recognised and aided private school and it is a Malayalam Linguistic Minority Educational Institution. The school was initially established as a Middle School in 1918. It was upgraded as a High School in 1949 and as Higher Secondary School in 1978. There are 49 teachers working in the said School. While so, the post of Headmaster fell vacant on 01.06.2011, on account of the retirement of the previous incumbent Thiru.P.Ravindaran, on 31.05.2011, thereby, the petitioner appointed one B.Gnana Chella Singh to the said post, who possessed B.Sc., (Zoology), B.Ed., M.A. (Political Science) and M.Ed., Degrees. He has been working as an approved B.T. Assistant in Science (Special Grade) in the school since 04.06.1984. The petitioner submitted a proposal to the fourth respondent on 27.07.2011 for the purpose of disbursement of grant-in-aid towards his salary. However, the fourth respondent refused to grant approval vide impugned order dated 24.08.2011. Challenging the same, the petitioner is before this Court.

(3.) The fourth respondent filed a counter-affidavit stating that the proposal to grant approval for appointment of B.Gnana Chella Singh, as Headmaster, was rejected on the ground that the said person was working only as a B.Ed., Grade teacher and not as a P.G. Assistant, since the feeder category for promotion to the post of Headmaster of a Higher Secondary School, is either a High School Headmaster or a Post Graduate Assistant. Apart from that, the fourth respondent also denied the averments made in the affidavit filed in support of the Writ Petition and justified the impugned order.