ANWARI KHATOON Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN Patna City there is a College known as Oriental College affiliated to Magadh University. It is a declared minority institution. Petitioner was appointed as Lecturer in Urdu on the 3rd post in 1971, which appointment was approved by the University and the Bihar State Constituent College Service Commission. After the College was declared minority institution, the State Government in the year 1980 took a decision that religious linguistic minority educational institution like Colleges would also be entitled to get the status of deficit grant College. This means that to the extent the College meets its financial obligations of payment, inter alia, towards salaries of teachers and non -teaching staff etc, it would be paid by the State through the affiliating University. The dispute in the present case is whether State is liable to pay the remuneration of petitioner or not.

(2.) THE stand of the State is that in 1985, pursuant to powers under Section -35 of the Bihar State Universities Act, 1976, sanctioned the third post of Urdu teacher in petitioner's College with a rider that the salary payment for the third post would be paid by the College itself. It is much later that petitioner's remunerations were stopped to be paid as there was neither money with the College nor money coming with the State. In the meantime, petitioner had also been granted approval of promotion from the Constituent College Service Commission.

(3.) THE University states that if money is given by the State then it has no problem in paying the College but independent of State it cannot be obliged to make payment to the petitioner. In other words, they sink or swim together. Mr. Chittranjan Sinha, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioner relies on Section -35 of the Bihar State Universities Act, 1976 and states that the entire stand of the State is misconceived. In terms of Section -35 of the Act, the provisions contained therein have no application to minority institution which are exempted. Therefore, there is no question of taking approval or sanction of the State for either creation of the post or appointment of the teaching staff. This position has some what in similar circumstances been decided in the case of State of Bihar and others Vs. Syed Asad Raza and others since reported in AIR 1997 SC 2425. There also the Apex Court held that so far as minority institutions are concerned, they require no approval or sanction under Section -35 of the Act from the State Government.