Document Fragment View

Matching Fragments

8. Even after first reorganisation of State, M.P. School Code continued to apply in Vidarbha Region upto 31-12-1965 when the M.P. Act was repealed and the Maharashtra Secondary School Code was brought into force. Clauses 61 and 63 of the said Code deal with the subject of appointment and the duties of the heads of Schools and appointment of supervisors. Annexure 45 deals with the subject of Seniority List of Teachers in the Non-Government Secondary Schools. Clause 5 of Annexure 45 reads as under:

10. The learned Counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner was a High School teacher when appointed as against the intervener who was a Middle School teacher and as per the Scheme of the M.P. Secondary Education Act, 1951 and the Rules thereunder, the petitioner was senior to the intervener (petitioner was appointed as High School teacher as against the intervener being appointed as Middle School teacher) and on their confirmation, after completing two years of service, both of them continued to be in the same different categories. As a result, as on 31-12-1965, the petitioner was senior to the intervener, asserts the learned Counsel. It is further submitted by him that in view of Clause 5 of Annexure 45 and in pursuance of the Secondary School Code being made applicable to Vidarbha Region from 27-7-1966, the seniority of the petitioner could not be disturbed vis-a-vis the intervener and as both of them were trained teachers on 27-7-1966, there was no question of the intervener being senior to the petitioner as the intervener had acquired his B.Ed. Degree in 1965 as against the petitioner in 1966. Even after the M.E.P.S. Rules came into force from 16-7-1981, the protection available to the petitioner under Clause 5 of Annexure 45 of the Secondary School Code remained unaltered in terms of Note 10 under Clause 2 of Scheduled F, to the M.E.P.S. Rules, urged the learned Counsel. It has been further contended that even otherwise the impugned order dated 5-9-1983 has been passed in violation of the principles of natural justice inasmuch as the petitioner was earlier approved as the Head Master and on the representation being made by the intervener against the said appointment, respondent No. 1 ought to have heard the petitioner while adjudicating the representation of the intervener before passing the impugned order.

14. Admittedly, under Clause 5 of Annexure 45 of the Higher Secondary School Code and Note 10 of Schedule F under the M.E.P.S. Rules, there is a clearcut mandate that the inter se seniority of teachers in the Vidarbha Region as on 31-12-1965 will remain unchanged and as per the proviso to the said clause/rule, this protection is not available, if any other teacher in that seniority list acquires higher qualification. The Higher Secondary School Code promulgated by the Government of Maharashtra was made applicable for the first time as per Circular issued by the Director of Education, Pune on 27-7-1966 and as on that date even the petitioner has become a trained teacher. Admittedly, the petitioner was a high school teacher right from his appointment as against the intervener being a middle school teacher on lower salary as compared to the petitioner. The petitioner was undoubtedly senior to the intervener as on 31-12-1965 and even after the Higher Secondary School Code was made applicable to the Non-Government Schools in Vidarbha Region, the petitioner remained senior to the Intervener in view of the fact that the petitioner also became a trained teacher in the Summer of 1966, that is, prior to the Notification issued by the Director of Education, Pune on 27-7-1966. Even after the M.E.P.S. Rules came into force, the position of inter se seniority between the petitioner and the intervener did not change and as a result the petitioner continued to be senior to the intervener.

"All the cases with which we are concerned with the teachers who were appointed when Vidarbha was part of old M.P. and who were made permanent on or before 31st December, 1965, Clause 5 of Annexure 45 of the Maharashtra Secondary School Code is relevant. It prohibits the disturbance of seniority of non-governmental secondary school teachers in the region who were made permanent on 31st December, 1965 and further lays down that their seniority should continue to be determined as per the statutory provisions contained in M.P. Act and the Rules made thereunder. This position received statutory recognition of 1981 Rules. It is plain that neither a Government Resolution nor Government Circular can override the Act or the Rules made thereunder."