Jharkhand High Court
Balwant Sahay vs State Of Jharkhand & Ors on 21 February, 2014
Author: Aparesh Kumar Singh
Bench: Aparesh Kumar Singh
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JHARKHAND AT RANCHI
W.P.(S). No. 1478 of 2009
Balwant Sahay ....... Petitioner
Versus
The State of Jharkhand & others ........... Respondents
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CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE APARESH KUMAR SINGH
For the Petitioner : Mr. M.M.Pan
For the Respondent : J.C. to G.A.
05/21.02.2014Heard counsel for the parties.
By an order dated 11.12.2007 vide memo no. 2286 issued by the Regional Deputy Director, Education, North Chotanagpur Division, Hazaribag, the petitioner was granted the benefit of first A.C.P. w.e.f 19.4.2007 by treating the date on which he acquired Teacher's Training qualification i.e. 19.4.1995 as the date from which the seniority has to be reckoned. By the same order 35 other persons were also granted the benefit of A.C.P. The petitioner has preferred the writ application with a plea to direct the respondent no. 2, the Regional Deputy Director, Education, North Chotanagpur Division, Hazaribag to revise the date of grant of A.C.P. w.e.f. 9.8.1999 instead of 19.4.2007 by treating his initial date of appointment on 19.7.1986 for the purposes of reckoning the period of service. The petitioner has now relied upon the judgment rendered in the case of Arun Sinha and others Vrs. Bihar Public Service Commission, Patna in Letters Patent Appeal being L.P.A. No. 214 of 2008 which was decided on 6.11.2012 along with another analogous case being L.P.A. No. 295 of 2008 preferred by the State of Jharkhand against the individual employees. By the same judgment, the Letters Patent Appeal preferred by the State of Jharkhand against the judgment rendered by the learned Single Judge in the petitioner's case i.e. W.P.S. No. 4235 of 2004 was also decided being L.P.A. No. 319 of 2008. The Division Bench of this Court upheld the directions of the learned Single Judge where under direction was issued upon the Director, Primary Eduction, State of Jharkhand to see that the petitioner's case for promotion shall be considered from the date of joining without affecting the seniority of any person above him in the seniority / gradation list and not from becoming trained. The Special Leave to Appeal preferred by the State of -2- Jharkhand being S.L.P.(Civil ) No. 5520-5522 of 2013 against the judgment in the aforesaid L.P.A.s was dismissed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court vide judgment dated 8.3.2013. The judgments rendered in the Letters Patent Appeals and the Special Leave to Appeal by the Apex Court are annexed as Annexure-7 and 8 to the I.A. No. 322 of 2014 to the instant writ petition.
Learned counsel for the petitioner, therefore submits that the in view of the legal position settled by the judgments rendered by this Court and upheld up to the Hon'ble Supreme Court, the respondents are obliged to revise the date of grant of A.C.P. reckoning 12 years of service from the initial date of appointment i.e. 19.7.1986 instead of the date of acquisition of training on 19.4.1995.
Learned counsel for the State does not object to such a prayer in view of the legal position settled by the judgments referred to herein above also in case of the petitioner himself.
In that view of the matter, the prayer made in the instant writ application for directing the Regional Deputy Director, Education, North Chotanagpur Division, Hazaribag to revise the date of grant of A.C.P. w.e.f. 9.8.1999 i.e the date on which the said circular was made effective upon counting 12 years of service from the date of appointment of the petitioner i.e. 19.7.1986 deserves to be allowed.
Accordingly, the respondent no.2, the Regional Deputy Director, Education, North Chotanagpur Division, Hazaribag is therefore directed to take a decision in the matter and accord the benefit of A.C.P. from the due date to the petitioner within a reasonable period preferably 10 weeks from the date of receipt of the copy of the order.
The writ petition is allowed in the aforesaid terms and all the interlocutory applications are accordingly, closed.
(Aparesh Kumar Singh, J.) A. Mohanty / Ritesh