M P SINGH Vs. STATE OF U P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner, a teacher in K.K. Post Graduate College, Etawah (hereinafter referred to as the college) has filed this writ petition for issuance of a direction to the respondents to give effect to the seniority list dated 15.11.1996 and permit the petitioner to function as officiating Principal of the college and/or handover the charge of the office of the Principal of the college to the petitioner. The college is affiliated to Chatrapati Sahuji Maharaj University of Kanpur, in short the University.

(2.) It is not disputed that the permanent Principal Dr. Om Shankar Srivastava was suspended by the Management on 6.8.1997 and in the resulted vacancy, Dr. Vidya Kant Tiwari, respondent No. 4, was appointed as officiating Principal on 8.8.1997. The grievance of the petitioner is that although according to Statute 13.20 of the First Statutes of the Kanpur University, the management have had the discretion to appoint "any teacher to officiate as Principal for a period of three months or until the appointment of a regular Principal, whichever is earlier," but they have no right to allow the fourth respondent to continue beyond the period of three months. Continuance of the 4th respondent beyond the period of three months is in utter disregard of the provisions of Statute 13.20 of the First Statutes of the Kanpur University. The petitioner who is senior to Dr. Vidya Kant Tiwari staked his claim for working as officiating Principal of the College on or after 8.11.1997, but since the Management and the Vice Chancellor of the University were in collusion with Dr. Vidya Kant Tiwari, they paid no heed in the matter and accordingly a writ petition being Civil Misc. Writ Petition No. 3006 of 1999, was filed by the petitioner and two others for appropriate direction to ensure compliance of Statute 13.20. The writ petition came to be disposed of with the direction to the Vice Chancellor to consider and dispose of the representation dated 23.11.1998 and pass appropriate order expeditiously. The Vice Chancellor by his order dated 11.7.1999, held that since the permanent Principal Dr. Om Shankar Srivastava joined the post after his suspension order was recalled by the Committee of Management, the representation had been rendered infructuous. The permanent Principal Dr. Om Shankar Srivastava has since attained the age of superannuation but the fourth respondent a junior teacher !n the College was again appointed as officiating Principal and has continued for more than three months.

(3.) We have had heard Sri Rakesh Bahadur for the petitioner and Sri Jai Prakash Rai, Sri V. K. Shukla. Sri Shashi Kant Sharma holding brief of Sri U. N. Sharma and Sri R. K. Porwal for the respondents.