SYED ATA MEHIUDDIN Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ORDER of the Orissa Administrative Tribunal, Bhubaneswar (hereinafter referred to as 'the Tribunal) dated 31.7.2001 passed in O.A. No. 972 of 1994 is under challenge in this writ petition filed by the petitioner, who was opposite party No.3 in the Tribunal. The present opp.party No.3 was the applicant before the Tribunal who questioned the validity of the Government order contained in Department of School and Mass Education letter No. 10988/SME dated 26.3.1994 creating the post of Inspecting Officer, Urdu Education in the Directorate of Secondary Education for a period of one year in the scale of pay of Rs. 1700 -3200/ - keeping in abeyance for the said period the post of Special Inspecting Officer, Urdu Education in the Directorate of Secondary Education in the scale of pay of Rs. 2000 -3500/ -. By the impugned order, the Tribunal has set aside the aforesaid Government order and directed the State Government to take a conscious decision as to what should be the qualification for the post of Special Inspecting Officer, Urdu Education in the Directorate of Secondary Education having regard to the job requirement.

(2.) THE case of the opposite party No.3 before the Tribunal is that he is an Urdu Teacher now serving in Jajpur High School which is a Government school. He has got the qualification of M.A. in Urdu from Utkal University and also Fazil from Madrasa Examination Board, Orissa. The aforesaid post of Special Inspecting Officer is not governed by any statutory rule nor there is any administrative instruction covering recruitment/promotion to the said post. In the past, promotion was given to eligible and qualified person serving in Urdu teaching branch having Fazil as qualification. One Basir Ahamed Khan was the last person to occupy the said post, who retired in 1993. Instead of considering his case for promotion, the said post was kept in abeyance and the post of Inspecting Officer, Urdu Education was created with a view to accommodate the petitioner first as Inspecting Officer for one year and thereafter as Special Inspecting Officer.

(3.) THE case before the Tribunal was kept pending for a pretty long period and after about seven years the Tribunal disposed of the same by quashing the Government order contained in letter No. 10988/SME dated 26.3.1994. Following are the findings recorded by the Tribunal : - (i) The validity of sanction for the post of Inspecting Officer which was for only one year is now ever and that post has also been operated for the period it was sanctioned after availing the liberty granted by the Tribunal. (ii) Only the post of Special Inspecting Officer now exist and the same has to be filled up by the State Government after taking as conscious decision as to what should be the qualification for the said post having regard to the job requirement. (iii) Opposite party No.3 (who was applicant before the Tribunal) had a reasonable expectation of promotion to Junior S.E.S. when the Government order contained in the letter No. 10988/SME dated 26.3.1994 was issued. (iv) Junior S.E.S. now consists of only Trained Graduate Teacher of High Schools and their qualification being either B.A., B.Ed. or B. Sc., B. Ed. which he (opposite party No.3) lacks, his promotional prospects have been reduced or done away with when he has become ineligible for the post of Special Inspecting Officer to which teachers like him used to be promoted before the impugned Government order. The said Government order is a one time dispensation for filling up the post of Special Inspecting Officer and indirectly suggests that it was intended for the benefit of individual and as such it cannot be sustained and the same was accordingly quashed.