Allahabad High Court
Lokendra Kumar And Another vs State Of U.P.And Others on 19 February, 2020
Equivalent citations: AIRONLINE 2020 ALL 525
Author: Vivek Chaudhary
Bench: Vivek Chaudhary
HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD ?A.F.R. Court No. - 88 Case :- WRIT - A No. - 59005 of 2012 Petitioner :- Lokendra Kumar And Another Respondent :- State Of U.P.And Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Siddharth Khare,Ashok Khare Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.,Anant Vijay With Case :- WRIT - A No. - 47512 of 2015 Petitioner :- Devendra Pal Singh And 7 Others Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 7 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Siddharth Khare,Shri Ashok Khare,Sudarshan Srivastava Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.,Anant Vijay Hon'ble Vivek Chaudhary,J.
1. Heard Sri Ashok Khare, learned Senior Advocate assisted by Sri Siddharth Khare, learned counsel for petitioner, learned Standing Counsel for the State and learned counsel for respondent Deemed University.
2. Petitioners are lecturers of R.E.I. Inter College, Dayalbagh, Agra. The said inter college was duly recognized and aided educational institution and provisions of U.P. Intermediate Education Act, 1921 (the 'Act of 1921'), U.P. Secondary Education Service Selection Board Act, 1982 (the 'Act of 1982') and U.P. High Schools and Intermediate Colleges (Payment of Salaries of Teachers and Other Employees) Act, 1971 (the 'Act of 1971') were applicable on the same. Petitioners were selected by the U.P. Secondary Education Service Selection Board and in pursuance of the recommendations made by the Selection Board, the District Inspector of Schools, Agra forwarded their names for appointment to the Management of R.E.I. Inter College. In furtherance of the said recommendations, the Management of R.E.I. Inter College issued appointment letters to the petitioners and, thus, petitioners joined the college. On 11.10.2012 the State Government issued an office order, in purported exercise of powers under Section 9(4) of the Intermediate Education Act, disaffiliating the R.E.I. Inter College, Agra from the Board of High School and Intermediate Education, U.P., Allahabad and further permitted its merger with Dayalbagh Education Institute Deemed University, Dayalbagh, Agra, subject to the conditions specified therein. The conditions imposed were:-
"(i) The High School and Intermediate Examination commencing from the year 2014 would be conducted by Dayalbagh Education Institute, Deemed University, Dayalbagh, Agra, itself which would have recognition as equivalent to High School and Intermediate Certificate Examination conducted by Board of High School & Intermediate Education.
(ii) The course curriculum and the books of study would continue to remain the same as stand prescribed by the Board of High School & Intermediate Education and in future the amendment/alteration would also be applicable with formal approval from Board of High School & Intermediate Education.
(iii) The said institution would not be affiliated to any other examining body and the examination would be conducted by the Deemed University itself.
(iv) The payment of salary to the members of the staff would be paid in accordance with the rules of the Deemed University.
(v) All liability for payment of salary, allowances, pension, G.P.F., Group Insurance, etc., would be the sole liability of the Deemed University and the State Government would have no concern with the same.
(vi) The members of the staff presently employed in the institute would be funded by the State Government and the financial liability with regard to any future increase in the staff would be borne by the Deemed University itself.
(vii) Orders would be separately issued by the Higher Education Department of the State with regard to the grant to be paid to be Deemed University.
3. Petitioners have challenged the aforesaid order dated 11.10.2012 to the extent they have been transferred under the said order to the Deemed University.
4. Sri Ashok Khare learned Senior Advocate for the petitioners submits that by the impugned order the inter college has been disaffiliated and has been merged with a Deemed University. Further, even the petitioners who are teachers of inter college also have been sent to the said Deemed University as teachers. The Deemed University has been asked to conduct examination parallel to the examination being conducted by the Education Board equivalent to high school and inter college. The teachers would be paid salary by the Deemed University and other liabilities with regard to teachers and employees shall also shift to the Deemed University and the State Government shall have no concern with the same. Thus, conditions imposed under the impugned order are challenged and it is argued that services of the petitioners could not have been transferred from an inter college to any University including Deemed University. Counsel for the petitioners states that petitioners are qualified and selected as inter college teachers by U.P. Secondary Education Service Selection Board. They are not qualified as degree college teachers. All the Universities including the Deemed University can only dispense education and grant degree with regard to graduation and above and cannot impart education up to intermediate level. Therefore, the transfer of petitioners from a recognized inter college to a Deemed University is illegal.
5. Learned Standing Counsel and learned counsel for respondent University have strongly argued that State Government has sufficient power under Section 9(4) of the Intermediate Education Act to pass any order as it deem fit and the Education Board is bound to comply with the same. Counsel for the respondent University states that University has no objection in case the petitioners are transferred back to elsewhere. He submits that such a statement is also made in paragraph-52 of the counter affidavit filed by the University.
6. Section 2(f) of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 (U.G.C. Act) defines University and Section 3 defines Deemed University. Admittedly, respondent no.8 is a Deemed University. Section 22 of the U.G.C. Act provides that University shall have right of conferring or granting degrees. A perusal of the U.G.C. Act shows that the same is for the purposes of creating a Commission for regulating higher education in the entire country. The same has no concern at all with the secondary education. The Universities including a Deemed University can only confer degree for higher education. The secondary education, i.e., intermediate and high school education in the State of U.P. is covered by the Act of 1921 (or Central Board of Secondary Education, Indian Certificate of Secondary Education or Indian School Certificate, with which we are not concerned here). Therefore, there is clear-cut distinction in the entire State of U.P. with regard to higher education being under exclusive domain of the Universities or Deemed Universities and secondary education being with the Intermediate Education Board of the State of U.P. Admittedly, the institution concerned was recognized under the Act of 1921 and Section 9 of the same gives ample power to the State Government to pass orders with regard to matters covered under the said Act. Appointment and removal of teachers of an inter college can be made only as per the Act of 1982 and the provisions of the Act of 1921 stands superseded to the said extent. Further, neither the Act of 1982 nor the Act of 1921 confer any power upon the State Government to transfer teachers of an inter college to a University. Appointment of teachers in a University can only be as per the qualifications prescribed by the U.G.C. Act or other law applicable. The Intermediate Education Act cannot by any stretch of imagination cover appointment of teachers in a University. The transfer of petitioners, who were teachers with an inter college, to a Deemed University is in violation of the provisions of Act of 1982 as the same does not provide transfer of any teacher from an inter college to a University. Thus, the impugned order dated 11.10.2012 to the said extent is bad and is set aside.
7. The Supreme Court in case of U.P. Secondary Education Service Selection Board Vs. State of U.P. and Others reported in (2018) 13 SCC 720, provided that the Board would have sufficient power to accommodate teachers from one inter college to another inter college in specific circumstances. In the present case, since the inter college has been de-recognized, the teachers of the inter college, who were duly selected by the U.P. Secondary Education Service Selection Board, have to be accommodated as lecturers in their respective subjects in other similar colleges. The Director of Education (Secondary), U.P., Lucknow is therefore directed to ensure that the petitioners are accommodated in other recognized inter college, on which provision of U.P. Intermediate Education Act, 1921, U.P. Secondary Education Service Selection Board Act, 1982 and U.P. High Schools and Intermediate Colleges (Payment of Salaries of Teachers and Other Employees) Act, 1971 are applicable, within the District Agra. Since, the petitioners have been continuously in service, therefore, it goes without saying that they shall be entitled to their earlier seniority also in such appropriate colleges. The Director shall ensure that such an exercise is completed within a period of four months from the date a certified copy of this order is placed before him and in case vacancies within the District Agra are not available in the aforesaid period of four months, they shall be accommodated immediately thereafter whenever such vacancies first accrue.
8. With the aforesaid, both the writ petitions stand disposed of.
Order Date :- 19.2.2020 Arti/-
(Vivek Chaudhary,J.)