NANDKUMAR MAHADEO DENGANE Vs. BHAVIKA VIDYA PRASARAK MANDAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) All these petitions are directed against the judgments and orders rendered by the School Tribunal on 13th August 2007, thereby rejecting the appeals filed by the petitioners - teachers. Before the School Tribunal, the orders of dismissal by way of punishment were challenged and these orders arose from mainly a common incident of distribution of leaflets in the school premises and the relay fast on 15th and 16th May 2006 held in the premises of the Zilla Parishad office and in which the petitioners along with some of their dismissed colleagues had participated and, therefore, all these petitions are being decided by a common order.

(2.) All the petitioners except the petitioner in Writ Petition No.8861 of 2007, were Assistant Teachers in the primary section of Bhavika Vidyalaya run by the respondent no.1 - Society and the petitioner in Writ Petition No.8861 of 2007 was the Assistant Teacher in the secondary section of the said school. They were all confirmed teachers and had put in the service for a period anywhere from six to eleven years when they had approached the School Tribunal. Initially the said school was unaided but in March 2004 it became a fully aided school. The teachers alleged that from May 2005 to September 2005 the respondent nos.1 and 2 did not pay their salary as per the Rules and on 30/4/2005 Mrs.Sujata Kuveskar - Clerk and Mrs. Sarita Patil, Asst. Teacher were removed from service without following the due process of lay and on 8/10/2005 Mrs.Suneeta Raje the then Head Mistress was compelled to resign. Again in April 2005 two teachers from the primary section and two teachers from the secondary section were removed.

(3.) A detailed charge-sheet was issued on 21/7/2006. The enquiry proceeded and the enquiry report was submitted on or about 25/3/2007. The report signed by the Convener and the State Awardee teacher held that the charges were proved. Whereas the defence representative did not agree with the said report and in his separate report submitted on the same date he held that the charges were not proved. The management acted on the basis of the majority report and proceeded to issue the orders of dismissal which were the subject matter of challenge in the Appeals before the School Tribunal. Every appeal has been dismissed by the School Tribunal for almost the same reasons.