High Court
Case Details
Court No. - 4 Case :- WRIT - A No. - 9121 of 2022 Petitioner :- Smt. Pratibha Chaudhary Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 5 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Ashish Kumar Ojha Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.,Anjali Upadhya,Jitendra Kumar,Kaushalendra Nath Singh Hon'ble Mahesh Chandra Tripathi,J. Supplementary Affidavit filed today be taken on record.
Legal Reasoning
Heard Shri R.K. Ojha, learned Senior Advocate assisted by Shri Ashish Kumar Ojha, learned counsel petitioner, Shri Sanjay Kumar Singh, learned A.C.S.C., Ms. Anjali Upadhyay, learned counsel for respondent no.3 and 6, Shri Sandeep Kumar Shukla, Advocate holding brief of Shri Jitendra Kumar, learned counsel for respondent no.6 and Shri Ridhan Gupta, Advocate holding brief of Shri Kaushlendra Nath Singh, learned counsel for respondent no.2. Present writ petition has been preferred for quashing the impugned order dated 31.5.2022 passed by the respondent no.6- Coordinator, Noida & Greater Noida Education Sub-Committee by which the charge of Principal of Mahamaya Girls Inter College has been ordered to be handover to Dr. Neeraj Tondon, who is the Principal of Panchsheel Boys Inter College in place of the petitioner. Further prayer has been made to ask the respondents not to disturb in peaceful working of the petitioner on the post of Principal of the Mahamaya Girls Inter College, Gautam Budh Nagar and release the payment of salary as well as extend the service period from time to time. The New Okhla Industrial Development Authority as well as Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (jointly called Industrial Development Authority) are constituted under the provisions of U.P. Industrial Area Development Act 1976. The Industrial Development authority has a society registered under Society Registration Act 1860 in the name and style of Noida and Greater Noida Shiksha Samittee. The object of the society is to develop education to the students of intermediate level as well higher level including technical education. The society has established four intermediate colleges, which are recognized with Central Board of Secondary Education bearing name Mahamaya Balika Inter College, Noida, Savitri Bai Phule Balika Inter College, Gautam Budh Balika Inter College Greater Noida, Panchsheel Balika Inter College. The payment of staff of the society is made by Noida and Greater Noida Authorities. It is claimed that the petitioner was initially appointed as PRT in Cahudhary Chaabil Dass Public School, Ghaziabad on 01.04.1993 in the pay scale of Rs.1200-2040 revised from time to time to the tune of Rs.5000-8000 (PB-II) with Grade Pay 4200 in 6th CPC. It is also claimed that the service of the petitioner has been unblemished and exemplary. She was given charge of Principal on officiating basis w.e.f. 13.05.2006 and further her pay was revised from 4500-120-7000 to 6500-200- 10500 by order dated 01.04.2007. On 31.03.2009, the petitioner was confirmed as Principal in the said institution w.e.f. 01.04.2009 and her pay scale was further upgraded under PB- III from 15600-39100 with Grade Pay 6600. The Noida and Greater Noida Education Society has issued advertisement no.02/2010 for filling up various posts including Principal, which is annexed as Annexure no.5 to the writ petition. The requisite qualification for the post of Principal is reproduced as under:- "A Candidate fulfill the eligibility criteria (i) Master Degree level from any recognized University with consistent good academic records with at least 55% marks in aggregate for General and OBC category candidates and 45% marks in aggregate for SC/ST category applicants. (ii) B.Ed. or equivalent Teaching Degree. 3. Desired Qualification: Phd. and/or M.Ed. with consistent good academic records and knowledge of Computer Applications." Thereafter the screening committee has held its meeting on 19.02.2010, wherein, criteria for screening of the applications have been relaxed. The said proceeding has also been brought on record as Annexure 6 to the writ petition. The relevant portion is extracted as under:- "A Candidate fulfill the eligibility criteria (i) Essential Qualification i.e. 55% marks in aggregate for General and OBC category candidates and 45% marks in aggregate for SC/ST candidates at Master Degree level from any recognized University and B.Ed. or equivalent teaching degree. (ii) A candidate serving as Principal in any Government funded Higher Secondary School in the Grade Pay 6600/- Pay Scale of PB-3 (15600-39100) (Pre revised scale Rs.10000-15200). or (iii) A candidate having ten years of teaching experience in any Government Funded Higher Secondary School with 06 years of experience as PGT. (iv) A candidate below 55 years as o 01.07.2010. 2. Candidate serving in reputed private higher secondary schools and fulfilling all other requirements as essential qualification and experience etc. mentioned above are also recommended too be called for interview. (For equivalence purpose only those candidates are considered who are getting a total salary of 30,000/- P.M. and above)." The petitioner had applied for the post of Principal. His candidature has been considered and the interview letter was issued to the petitioner by the Co-ordinator Noida and Greater Noida Education Sub-Committee. The petitioner appeared in the interview and found suitable for the post i.e. Principal of the Institution and consequently the Secretary Noida and Greater Noida Education Sub-Committee had issued appointment letter on 07.04.2010. It is being claimed that with utmost satisfaction of the superior officers, the petitioner continued to work on the post of Principal since 2010. It transpires from the record that some complaint has been made on the portal of Hon'ble the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, wherein, it is alleged that the petitioner has obtained appointment based on forged documents. A notice was issued to the petitioner on 02.08.2021 by District Inspector of Schools, Gautam Budh Nagar- respondent no.5 requiring him to place some documents, which was subsequently placed by the petitioner. It is claimed that without issuing any show cause notice or providing opportunity of hearing, respondent no.5 has submitted his enquiry report to District Magistrate, Gautam Budh Nagar on 13.08.2021, which was later transmitted to Secretary, Noida and Greater Noida Education Sub-Committee/Additional, Chief Executive Officer (D), Greater Noida Development Authority, Noida, Gautam Budh Nagar. Lastly by the order impugned, the services of the petitioner has not been extended pursuant to the aforesaid enquiry report. The matter was taken up on 28.06.2022 and this Court has passed following order:- "Vakalatnama filed by Shri Jitendra Kumar, learned counsel on behalf of respondent no.6 is taken on record. Heard Shri R.K. Ojha, learned Senior Counsel assisted by Shri Ashish Kumar Ojha, learned counsel for the petitioner; Shri Sanjay Singh, learned Additional Chief Standing Counsel for the State-respondents and Shri Jitendra Kumar, learned counsel for the respondent no.6. Present writ petition has been preferred for quashing the impugned order dated 31.5.2022 passed by the respondent no.6-Coordinator, Noida & Greater Noida Education Sub-Committee by which the charge of Principal of Mahamaya Girls Inter College has been ordered to be handover to Dr. Neeraj Tondon, who is the Principal of Panchsheel Boys Inter College in place of the petitioner. After substantial argument, the bone of contention, which has emerged from the record is only qua last pay drawn by the petitioner from the institution namely CH. Chhabil Das Junior Public School. The respondent while passing the order impugned has heavily relied upon the fact that the petitioner was getting hardly Rs.6500/- per month. On the other hand, learned counsel for the petitioner has relied upon page 94 of the paper book on the basis of which it is contended that as per PF account of the petitioner bearing no.UP/MT/28802 of 2002 her net salary at the relevant point of time was 40,018/- and Rs.2462 was deducted for provident fund. Shri Jitendra Kumar, learned counsel for the respondent no.6 has contended that the authenticity of the aforesaid document can very well be verified by the respondents from the record. Before proceeding further in the matter, let the said document (paper book p.94) be duly verified by the respondents from the record. On the request of learned counsel for the respondents, put up this matter as fresh on 30.6.2022, showing the name of Shri Jitendra Kumar as learned counsel for respondent no.6." Today when the matter is taken up, Shri Sanjay Kumar Singh, learned Additional Chief Standing Counsel has placed detailed instruction dated 28.06.2022 sent by District Inspector of Schools, Gautam Budh Nagar, which are taken on record. He submits that in the light of order dated 28.06.2022, requisite information has already been sent to the concerned institution for providing appropriate details qua service of petitioner and in this direction some reasonable time is being prayed for. In the supplementary Affidavit, the Form-16 of the petitioner has also been brought on record as Annexure-I, which goes to show the gross salary of the petitioner to the tune of Rs.4,09,338/- as well as P.F. to the tune of Rs.29,544/- deducted for the period 01.04.2009 to 31.03.2010 (Assessment Year 2010-11). The said deduction is made in terms of Section 6-A of the Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1952.
Decision
Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, this Court is of the considered opinion that once the dispute is only with regard to last pay drawn of the petitioner at the institution i.e. CH. Chhabil Das Junior Public School, which is a junior public school, this aspect of the matter can be very well examined by the Competent Authority on the basis of material as has been placed before this Court and as such, no useful purpose would be served in keeping the writ petition pending consideration. The writ petition is disposed of asking the petitioner to hand over all the relevant papers to the District Inspector of Schools, Gautam Budh Nagar within a week and after scrutinizing the same as well as the other relevant documents including details sent by erstwhile institution i.e. CH. Chhabil Das Junior Public School, he will transmit the details to the sixth respondent i.e. Coordinator, Noida & Greater Noida Education Sub- Committee, who may take a final call in the matter. The order impugned shall be subject to final outcome of the said proceeding. Order Date :- 30.6.2022 A. Pandey Digitally signed by ANAND PANDEY Date: 2022.07.02 12:18:01 IST Reason: Location: High Court of Judicature at Allahabad