CHINTAMANI ACHARYA Vs. STATE OF ORISSA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Orissa Subordinate Education Service consists of two cadres - Assistant Teachers in Government Schools form the Junior Cadre while Headmasters and Deputy Inspectors of Schools form the Senior Cadre. Petitioner in O. J. C. 284 of 1975 was recruited as an Assistant Teacher in the Orissa Subordinate Education Service on 4-8-1955 and was promoted as a Headmaster in the Senior Cadre of the service on 23-8-1971, while petitioner in O. J. C. No. 285 of 1975 was recruited as an Assistant Teacher on 13-2-1960 and still continues to be an Assistant Teacher. The State Government decided in 1969 to convert the management of 142 High Schools in the State which were by then receiving full net deficit grants from Government into regular Government Schools. Thus with effect from 1st of March, 1969, these 142 schools became regular Government Schools and the teachers and Headmasters employed in these schools were treated as Government servants. Accordingly the Assistant Teachers were taken over to the Junior Cadre while Headmasters were taken over to the Senior Cadre of the Orissa Subordinate Education Service. On 20th of Sept., 1970, Government by Resolution in the Education Department formulated the service conditions of the teachers in these schools. In these applications we are concerned with the following conditions :

(2.) Opposite parties 1 and 2 have filed a common counter-affidavit and some of the Headmasters who have been added as opposite parties have also appeared and filed counter-affidavits in each of the cases. Opposite parties 1 and 2 have taken the stand that Government have power to lay down service conditions as also principles for fixation of inter se seniority, in the absence of any statutory rules. It was open to them in the public interest to take over the schools and convert the service of teachers employed therein into Government service and thereby bring the teachers in the employment in the taken over schools into Government service. Many of the Headmasters-opposite parties have claimed that they are senior to the respective petitioner. All the opposite parties have justified the guidelines for fixation of inter se seniority.

(3.) Three contentions in the main have been raised by Mr. Rath, learned counsel for both the petitioners :-