Allahabad High Court
State Of U.P. Thru. Addl.Chief Secy. ... vs Brijendra Pratap Bahadur Singh And ... on 20 May, 2022
Author: Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya
Bench: Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD, LUCKNOW BENCH ?Court No. - 2 Case :- SPECIAL APPEAL No. - 214 of 2022 Appellant :- State of U.P. Thru. Addl.Chief Secy. Secondary Edu. Civil Secrt. Lko.And Ors (In Wria 1697 of 2021) Respondent :- Brijendra Pratap Bahadur Singh and others Counsel for Appellant :- C.S.C. Counsel for Respondent :- Surendra Pratap Singh Hon'ble Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya,J.
Hon'ble Subhash Vidyarthi,J.
Heard learned State Counsel representing the appellants and Shri Surendra Pratap Singh, learned counsel representing the respondent Nos. 1 to 6.
Under challenge in this special appeal is the judgement and order dated 09-09-2021 passed by the learned Single Judge in Writ Petition No. 1697 (S/S) of 2021 filed by the respondent Nos. 1 to 6 whereby the writ petition has been allowed and the order dated 11-09-2020 passed by the Director, Secondary Education, U.P. Prayagraj which was under challenge therein has been quashed. Learned Single Judge has also issued a direction to the appellants to grant financial approval to the appointment of the petitioners-respondent Nos. 1 to 6 strictly in accordance with law and pay them salary of the post of Assistant Teacher regularly every month.
Learned State Counsel arguing for the appellants has submitted that in almost identical circumstances, Special Appeal No. 177 of 2022 filed by the State against the judgement and order dated 05-02-2021 passed in Writ Petition No. 25820 (S/S) of 2020 has been allowed by this Court by means of the order dated 28-04-2022 and hence, this appeal may also be allowed.
It has further been stated by learned counsel for the appellants that from perusal of the judgement and order under appeal herein dated 09-09-2021 passed by the learned Single Judge, it is apparent that since in the Writ Petition No. 1697 (S/S) of 2021, under challenge was the order dated 11-09-2020 passed by the Director, Secondary Education, U.P. Prayagraj which was the subject matter of Writ Petition No. 25820 (S/S) of 2020 also hence, it appears that inadvertently the learned Single Judge while passing the judgement and order under appeal herein has recorded the facts of Writ Petition No. 25820 (S/S) of 2020.
Learned Counsel representing the respondent Nos. 1 to 6 has stated that the facts of the present case are different from those of Writ Petition No. 25820 (S/S) of 2020. He is fair enough to admit that the learned Single Judge while passing the judgement and order under appeal herein has neither discussed nor considered the facts of the present case; rather the judgment is based on judgement dated 05-02-2021 passed in Writ Petition No. 25820 (S/S) of 2020 where facts were slightly different.
It has also been argued by learned counsel appearing for the appellant that though the time was granted to the respondents in the writ petition for filing a counter affidavit, however, on account of the situation caused by the pandemic COVID-19, the counter affidavit could not be filed within the time granted by the learned Single Judge and in the meantime, an application was moved by the respondent Nos.1 to 6 to dispose of the writ petition in terms of the judgement and order dated 05-02-2021 in Writ Petition No. 25820 (S/S) of 2020 and it is on this application that the matter has been decided by the learned Single Judge.
In view of the consensus between the learned counsel for the parties that the appellants could not file the counter affidavit and further that the facts of the present case are a bit different from the facts in Writ Petition No. 25820 (S/S) of 2020 and that learned Single Judge while passing the judgement and order under appeal herein has not adverted to the facts of the present case, we are of the opinion that the writ petition should be remitted to the learned Single Judge for decision afresh.
Accordingly, this special appeal is allowed and the judgement and order dated 09-09-2021 passed by the learned Single Judge in Writ Petition No. 1697 (S/S) of 2021 is hereby set aside. The Writ Petition No. 1697 (S/S) of 2021 is restored to the board of the learned Single Judge. We also request the learned Single Judge to expedite the proceedings of the Writ Petition No. 1697 (S/S) of 2021.
We also direct that the respondents in the aforesaid writ petition shall file their counter affidavit within a period of three weeks from today and the petitioner thereafter shall have two weeks to file rejoinder affidavit.
Learned Single Judge is requested to decide the writ petition with expedition, after exchange of affidavits between the parties. There will be no order as costs.
Order Date :- 20.5.2022 Jaswant