PITAMBAR DEO Vs. ASHOK KUMAR TRIPATHY, IAS, COMMISSIONER -CUM- SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT, SCHOOLS AND MASS EDUCATION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is an application under Section 12 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 filed six petitioners complaining of willful disobedience of the judgment dated 8.12.1992 of a Full Bench of this Court in OJC No. 714 of 1992 (Golakh Chandra Mohanty and others v. State of Orissa and others)* reported in 76 (1993) CLT 308 and the judgment of the Special Bench in O.J.C. No.9655 of 1992 (Priti Ranjan Pradhan v. State of Orissa and others) and other connected cases reported in 1999 (1) OLR 187.

(2.) THE relevant facts briefly are that the six petitioners are trained graduate teachers of different High Schools which were earlier aided High Schools under the Direct Payment Scheme of the State Government. The said aided High Schools have been taken over by the State Government with effect from 7.6.1994. Golakh Chandra Mohanty and eleven other assistant teachers of different similar aided High Schools (prior to their take over on 7.6.1994) located in district Puri filed a writ petition in O.J.C. No.714 of 1992 challenging the promotion of opposite party No.4 in the said writ petition Bhubanananda Sarangi to the post of Headmaster of the School on the ground that Bhubananda Sarangi was not eligible to be promoted as Headmaster because he had not completed seven years of teaching experience after training. The case of the aforesaid twelve writ petitioners in O.J.C. No.714 of 1992 was that Regulation 17(2) of the Regulations of Board of Secondary Education, Orissa (hereinafter referred to as "the Regulations) provided that a trained graduate in Arts or Science with minimum seven years experience after training was eligible to be promoted to the post of Headmaster. The further case of the petitioners in the said O.J.C. No.714 of 1992 was that under Rule 8(2)(b) of the Orissa Education (Recruitment and Conditions of Service of Teachers and Staff of Aided Educational Institutions) Rules, 1974 (hereinafter referred to as "the 1974 Rules"), a vacancy in a post carrying higher scale of pay is to be filled up with the prior approval of a Director in case of a High School. Since Bhubanananda Sarangi had not completed seven years teaching experience after training and no prior approval of the Director had been obtained, the promotion of Bhubanananda Sarangi was contrary to the provisions of the Regulations and the 1974 Rules. In the said writ petition (O.J.C. No.714 of 1992), the petitioners prayed for quashing the promotion of Bhubananda Sarangi and for directing the authorities to consider the promotion of trained graduate teachers to the post of Headmaster in accordance with the Regulations and the 1974 Rules. On 22.10.1992, a Division Bench of this Court passed orders for referring the following question for decision to a Full Bench : -

(3.) AGAINST the aforesaid judgment dated 25.1.1999, appeals were carried to the Supreme Court and on 4.1.2001, the Supreme Court upheld the said judgment of the Special Bench in Civil Appeal Nos, 3190 and 4670 of 1999. Paragraphs 7 and 8 of the said judgment of the Supreme Court in the Civil Appeals (Pabitra Mohan Dash, etc. v. State of Orissa and others), AIR 2001 SC 560, are quoted herein below : -