RIDDHI RANI DEY Vs. STATE OF JHARKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner has approached this Court with a prayer for quashing of the order contained in Memo No. 1808 dated 29th of November, 2019 (Annexure15) wherein the prayer of the petitioner for determination and disbursement of salary has been denied by the respondent. Further, prayer has been made for quashing the order bearing No. 24/30 dated 07th of January, 2020 (Annexure-16) and letter bearing No. MC/11/2020 dated 8th of February, 2020 (Annexure-17), whereby and wherein, an order has been given to the Competent Authorities that the service of the petitioner be no longer taken and the petitioner has been asked to stop discharging her duties. Further, prayer has been made for a direction upon the respondents to pay the current salary and arrears of salary w.e.f. 22.03.2012 with all consequential benefits to the petitioner, which has not been paid to her since joining.

(2.) The factual exposition as has been delineated in the writ petition is that on 20.01.2009, an advertisement was issued for appointment of Bengali Trained Permanent Assistant Teacher in daily newspaper in Dinabandhu Middle School, Deoghar. Pursuant thereto, the petitioner, fulfilling all the requisite qualifications as per the terms and conditions of the Advertisement, applied for the same. On 02.02.2012, a call letter, issued by the respondent No.6, was received by the petitioner for appearing in the written test as well as interview, which was scheduled to be held on 11.02.2012. The petitioner appeared in the said written test and interview and subsequent thereto, a detailed chart was prepared by the Members of Selection Committee in which petitioner has been declared as successful candidate and the name of the petitioner appeared at Sl. No. 03 in the select/chart list dated 13.02.2021 and such, vide recommendation dated 13.02.2012, her name was recommended for appointment to the post of Assistant Teacher in the said school. The said recommendation has been confirmed on the basis of the report of the Selection Committee by the respondents. Thereafter, the petitioner vide Ref. No. 10 dated 20.03.2012, has been appointed as Assistant Teacher at Dinabandhu Middle School on contractual basis. On 22.03.2012, the petitioner joined the services in the said school and was discharging her duties to the satisfaction of the respondents concerned. Thereafter, the respondents No.6 vide its letter dated 24.03.2012 recommended the case of the petitioner for approval of her appointment before the respondent No. 5. In the meantime, the petitioner had duly passed the examination of Teachers Eligibility Test and a certificate dated 28.05.2013 to that extent was issued in her favour by the Jharkhand Academic Council.

(3.) It is further the case of the petitioner that the Director, Primary Education vide its letter dated 22.05.2014 issued a direction to all DSE in the State of Jharkhand to pay the salary of the teachers appointed pursuance to the Primary School Teacher Appointment Rule, 2012. Accordingly, vide letters dated 19.01.2015 and 18.05.2016, the Director, Primary Education had sent all the documents for fixation of pay scale of the petitioner and the petitioner had also given several representation before the respondents for releasing of her salary, but no heed was paid. The petitioner had approached this Court by filing a writ petition being W.P.(S) No.5140 of 2016 and vide order dated 09th August, 2018, this Court directed the respondents to take a decision, in accordance with law and also directed that if approval is accorded by the Director, Primary Education, the benefits accrued to the petitioner i.e. salary/arrears of the salary should be paid to her from the date of joining. As the said order of this Court was not complied within stipulated time, the petitioner again approached this Court by filing a Cont. (Civil) case being Cont. (Civil) Case No. 779 of 2019 and during the pendency of the said contempt application, the respondents vide impugned order dated 29.11.2019 took a decision that the petitioner is not entitled for fixation of pay scale as the appointment of the petitioner seems to be suspicious and as such, the said Contempt application was dropped. Further, vide impugned orders dated 07.01.2020 and 08.02.2020, the petitioner was stopped from discharging her duties as process for the payment of the dues were pending at the Directorate level. Hence, this writ petition has been preferred by the petitioner, challenging the impugned orders dated 29.11.2019, 07.01.2020 and 08.02.2020.