ALAKH NIRANJAN Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present Letters Patent Appeal is directed against an order passed by learned Single Bench on 30.11.2015 whereby the claim of the appellants for grant of graduate trained scale was declined and their claim for promotion in the graduate trained scale from the date the vacancies became available also remained unsuccessful.

(2.) The appellants were appointed in the year 1999 as Assistant Teachers but were granted Matric trained scale. The issue as to whether the appellants are entitled to promotion in graduate trained scale and further promotion on the post of Headmaster, Middle School was considered by a Full Bench of this Court in a judgment delivered on 21st of April 2009 in C.W.J.C. No. 12708 of 1996 and analogous cases. In pursuance to the said order, the trained teachers' scale was granted to 325 teachers but not to the appellants, although, it was alleged that 105 vacant posts are still available and thus the appellants are entitled to such scale.

(3.) In the counter affidavit, it was asserted that the claim of the appellants for promotion in graduate trained scale has been rejected by the District Education Officer on 23rd of March, 2015. It was pointed out that in respect of science graduate teachers, the persons up to serial no. 315 of the gradation list in the general category were given promotion but since the appellants are rank lower in the gradation list, they could not be considered for promotion. The assertion of the appellants that the persons junior to them in the gradation list have been given promotion was denied. In respect of promotion to Krishna Kumar and Dharmdeo Choudhary, it was pointed out that they belong to the Scheduled Caste category, therefore, the appellants cannot claim any parity with respect to grant of promotion to the reserved categories.