DEEPA DATTU PATIL Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA
LAWS(BOM)-2018-11-197
HIGH COURT OF BOMBAY
Decided on November 30,2018

Deepa Dattu Patil Appellant
VERSUS
STATE OF MAHARASHTRA Respondents

JUDGEMENT

Bharati H. Dangre, J. - (1.)The petitioner, working as an Assistant Teacher in the respondent no.4 School has approached this Court seeking direction to the respondent nos.1 and 2 i.e. State of Maharashtra and the Education Officer (Secondary), Zilla Parishad, Kolhapur to approve her appointment as Full Time Assistant Teacher with retrospective effect from June 1997 and confer the consequential benefits upon such an approval being granted to her. She has also sought direction for payment of regular salary as Assistant Teacher from the date of regularization. The petition impleads the President of Sharda Shikshan Prasarak Mandal, Yeshwant Nagar (Karve), Taluka Chandgad, District Kolhapur as respondent no.3 and the Head Master of Dhananjay Vidyalay, Naganwadi, Taluka Chandgad, District Kolhapur which is a school receiving Grant-in-Aid from respondent nos.1 and 2 is impleaded as respondent no.4. The said Writ Petition was instituted in the year 2013 and on 18th October 2013, this Court was pleased to issue notice to the respondents and directed them to file reply.
(2.)The grievance raised in the petition can be summarized briefly in the following terms. The petitioner possesses the qualification of SSC, D.Ed and in the Academic Session 1993-94, she came to be appointed as Assistant Teacher in the D.Ed pay scale by an order dated 10th August 1993 after following due procedure of selection. She was appointed for teaching students from VI to VII standard. Her services were discontinued at the end of academic session and a fresh order of appointment issued to her on 7th June 1994 by the President of the Respondent no.3 recruiting her as an Assistant Teacher (part time) with effect from 13th June 1994 on purely temporary basis. The said appointment continued till 30th April 1995 as the order of appointment made it clear that the appointment was to continue till 30th April 1995. i.e. till the end of the academic session and the terms of employment would be governed by the Maharashtra Employees of Private Schools (Conditions of Service) Regulation Act, 1977.
(3.)As per the petitioner, the respondent no.4 School was started in the year 1983, but it was not in receipt of grants from State Government. In the year 1993-94, though actual sanctioned strength of Assistant teachers was 5 , additional divisions were required to be started since the year 1991 due to natural growth and a proposal for sanction of additional Assistant teachers was forwarded to respondent no.2.
The case of the petitioner is that she continued to work in the subsequent academic session and there was a clear vacancy to accommodate her. The petitioner places reliance on an intimation issued by the Dy. Director of Education to the respondent no.4, thereby enhancing the number of Assistant Teachers sanctioned to the extent of 5 to 10 and it is the case of the petitioner that she ought to have been treated as working against a clear, sanctioned and a vacant post. It is the specific case of the petitioner that the said post was not ear-marked for any reserved category. The petitioner relies upon the staff approval proforma for the year 1994-95 forwarded by respondent no.4 to the respondent no.2 which includes the name of the petitioner along with nine other persons whose proposals were forwarded for approval. However, the appointment of the petitioner came to be approved only for a period of one year from 1st November 1995 to 30th April 1996, whereas in respect of other employees, the approval came to be granted on permanent basis, though the said teachers were appointed subsequent to the petitioner. The specific case of the petitioner is that she rendered satisfactory and continuous services on clear permanent vacant post since 1993 and she ought to have been treated as a permanent employee in terms of the provisions of the law governing her i.e. Maharashtra Employees of Private Schools (Conditions of Service) Regulation Act, 1977 (for short "MEPS Act") which do not permit an institution to appoint an employee on temporary basis and the appointment could be effected only in accordance with the provisions of the said enactment.



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