MAYASHANKAR Vs. STATE OF U. P.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These appeals arise out of the judgment and order of learned Single Judge dtd. 13/8/2024, whereby two writ petitions filed by the appellant are decided. Learned Single Judge has dismissed both the writ petitions and vacated the interim order granted earlier.

(2.) The controversy leading to filing of the present appeal lies in a limited factual scenario. The appellant herein was appointed as lecturer in Bharat Sewak Samaj Inter College, Hathiyar, Varanasi (hereinafter referred to as the 'institution'). He was appointed as officiating principal of the institution on 30/3/2018. His signatures were also attested by the District Inspector of Schools on 11/4/2018. A requisition was sent by the Managing Committee of the institution for substantive appointment to be made on the post of principal on 7/7/2018. Although the requisition was sent for substantive appointment but no advertisement was issued. It is at this stage that the process was initiated for transfer of the respondent Nityanand Mishra, who as substantively working as principal of Raj Kumar Higher Secondary School, Kubernath, Kushinagar. For such purposes of transfer recommendation was made by the Joint Director of Education on 30/12/2022. Two subsequent orders have been passed in favour of the contesting respondent by the educational authorities later in point of time. The first order is of 16/5/2023, whereby the Additional Director of Education Secondary disposed of the representation made by the appellant objecting to the resolution made by the Joint Director of Education recommending transfer of contesting respondent in the present institution. The Additional Director of Education by this order affirm the previous recommendation of 30/12/2022. A subsequent order of transfer dtd. 28/6/2024 is passed by the Additional Director of Education whereby contesting respondent has been transferred to the institution in question. These two orders were the subject matter of challenge before the learned Single Judge.

(3.) In the first writ petition i.e. Writ-A No.5106 of 2023 the recommendation of the Joint Director of Education dtd. 30/12/2022 was assailed. This writ petition was entertained and a detailed interim order was passed on 22/5/2023, which is reproduced hereinafter:- "Heard Sri Kailash Singh Kushwaha, learned counsel for the petitioner, learned Standing Counsel for the State respondents, Sri Ramesh Chandra Dwivedi, learned Advocate for Committee of Management and Sri Ashutosh Mani Tripathi, learned counsel for respondent no. 6. The controversy in the present case has arisen on account of recommendation being made in favour of 6th respondent to be transferred as a Principal of the Institution where the petitioner is currently working as officiating Principal. The submission advanced by learned counsel for the petitioner on the earlier date was that since he was working in the Institution as officiating Principal from 2018 and the post has been requisitioned to the Board for making direct selection, he will lose the opportunity to participate as a senior most teacher of the Institution for considering his candidature for selection in the event post gets occupied by a regular Principal, may be by way of transfer. He had argued that the District Inspector of Schools had no occasion to cancel the requisition already forwarded to the Board in the light of Full Bench judgment of this Court in the case of Haripal Singh v. State of U.P. & 10 Ors, 2016 ADJ 622. Taking notice of the aforesaid facts, this Court had directed Additional Director of Education to pass final order in pending matter before him, vide order dtd. 19/4/2023. Now the order has been passed on 16/5/2023 which has been brought on record by way of short counter affidavit filed on his behalf. In the order which has been passed on 16/5/2023 by the District Inspector of Schools, the ground taken is that on 11/1/2023 the Secretary, U.P. Secondary Education Services Selection Board, Prayagraj had issued directives to all the District Inspector of Schools of the State that "since in the matter of selection and appointment time was being taken therefore, the proper verification will be done of the requisition sent online in between the period from 11/1/2023 to 16/1/2023 on eight points in which one of the point was as to whether the requisition was sent from any Institution or not and as to whether if requisition sent suffers from any irregularity and as to whether the post in respect of which requisition has been sent and transfer is being claimed upon has already been filled up or not," the District Inspector of Schools on 16/1/2023 rejected the requisition of the post of Principal sent from the Institution on account of the fact that a transfer was being considered. Prima facie in my considered view such a rejection of already requisitioned post by District Inspector of Schools was not called for at all, nor the import of directives issued by the Secretary, U.P. Secondary Education Services Selection Board, Prayagraj can be so construed as to empower the District Inspector of Schools to cancel the requisition. All that was required to be done by the District Inspector of Schools to verify as to whether any such requisition had been sent personally or not. Further, I find that no irregularity has been cited in rejecting the requisition for the post of Principal in the petitioner's Institution. It transpires further that the application of 6th respondent was moved offline only in the month of November 2022 when the post in question had already been requisitioned and there was no order cancelling the same except one order passed by District Inspector of Schools dtd. 23/4/2022 that the post since was already requisitioned, the second time requisition was not maintainable. Matter requires consideration. All the respondents are granted four weeks' time to file counter affidavit. Rejoinder affidavit, if any, may be filed within two weeks thereafter. List on 28/7/2023. In the meanwhile until further orders of this Court, it is hereby provided that the post of Principal of the Institution where the petitioner is working as officiating Principal shall not be filled up by any transfer except by mode of regular selection by the Board. In the meantime, petitioner may also file necessary amendment application to challenge the order passed by the Additional Director of Education on 16/5/2023."