Dismissed

Pralaykanti Chowdhury and 3 Ors. v. the State of Assam and 3 Ors.

Gauhati HC22 Nov 2021WP(C)/6069/2021

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

In this writ petition, teachers serving as in-charge headmasters challenged the exclusion of their pre-provincialisation venture school service experience from seniority calculations for Headmaster promotion under the 2018 Rules. The Court upheld the classification.

What did the court decide?

Petitioners not entitled to count venture school service in seniority for Headmaster promotion; writ petition dismissed.

Pralaykanti Chowdhury and 3 Ors. Vs the… — Pension and Retirement Benefits | Gauhati HC (2021)

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GAHC010185482021

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THE GAUHATI HIGH COURT (HIGH COURT OF ASSAM, NAGALAND, MIZORAM AND ARUNACHAL PRADESH)

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Case No. : WP(C)/6069/2021

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1: PRALAYKANTI CHOWDHURY AND 3 ORS

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S/O. PIJUSH KANTI CHOWDHURY, I/C HEADMASTER CUM GRADUATE ASSTT. TEACHER OF GHARBARAN AMARCHAND PREMODAMOYEE HIGH SCHOOL, KRISHNACHARAN ROAD, (WEST), R/O. VILL. AND P.O. MEHERPUR, BEHIND SOUTH CITY HOSPITAL, SILCHAR, DIST. CACHAR, ASSAM, PIN-788015.

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2: SABINOY KRISHNA DAS

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S/O. LT. SURENDRA CHANDRA DAS I/C HEADMASTER CUM ASSTT. TEACHER

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GONGAPUR HIGH SCHOOL GANGAPUR R/O. NIZ KATIGORAH PART-III P.O. KATIGORAH DIST. CACHAR ASSAM PIN-788805.

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3: NIRMAL KUMAR DAS S/O. SATYENDRA CH DAS

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I/C HEADMASTER CUM GRADUATE ASSTT. TEACHER

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EAST KAZIDAHAR HIGH SCHOOL R/O. DAKSHIN MOHANPUR PART-II P.O. THAGJAMLEIKAI DIST. CACHAR ASSAM PIN-788119.

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4: MD. ABDUR RAHIM AHMED S/O. LT. MAKHMOD ALI

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I/C HEADMASTER CUM ASSTT. TEACHER OF MD. YASIN CHOUDHURY HIGH SCHOOL UTTAR KRISHNAPUR R/O. UTTAR MOHANPUR P.O. SONAIMUKH DIST. CACHAR ASSAM PIN-788119

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VERSUS

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1: THE STATE OF ASSAM AND 3 ORS

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REP. BY THE COMM. AND SECY., TO THE GOVT. OF ASSAM, DEPTT. OF SECONDARY EDUCATION, DISPUR, GUWAHATI, ASSAM, PIN-781006.

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2:THE DIRECTOR OF SECONDARY EDUCATION

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ASSAM KAHILIPARA GUWAHATI ASSAM PIN-781019.

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3:THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER CACHAR SILCHAR CUM CHAIRMAN DISTRICT PROMOTION COMMITTEE CACHAR ASSAM PIN-788001.

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4:THE INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS CACHAR DISTRICT CIRCLE SILCHAR DIST. CACHAR ASSAM PIN-788001

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-B E F O R E-

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HON’BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MR. SUDHANSHU DHULIA HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE DEVASHIS BARUAH

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22.11.2021

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Heard Mr. B. Purkayastha, learned counsel for the petitioner. Also heard Mr. D. Saikia, learned Advocate General, Assam assisted by Mr. R. Mazumdar, learned counsel for the respondents.

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All the petitioners before this Court are presently working as in-Charge Headmasters of the respective High Schools. Their services were provincialized with effect from 01.01.2013 under the provisions of the Assam Venture Educational Institutions (Provincialisation of Services) Act, 2011.

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It must be placed on record that the aforesaid Act was repealed by the Assam Education (Provincialisation of Services of Teachers and Re-Organisation of Educational Institutions) Act, 2017, but in view of the saving provision under Section 24 of the Act, the services of such teachers which had already been provincialized under the 2011 Act were not touched. In other words, the services of the petitioners were provincialized

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under the 2011 Act w.e.f. 01.01.2013. Now recruitment to the post of Headmaster in a High School has to be made in terms of Rule 14¹ of the Assam Secondary Education (Provincialised Schools) Rules, 2018.

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1 14. Recruitment to the post of Head Master/Superintendent and procedure thereof :- (1) The post of Headmaster of a High School and Superintendent of a High Madrassa shall be filled up by promotion from the candidates amongst the Graduate Teachers as per District-wise seniority list on the recommendation of the District Selection Committee constituted under Rule 16(2). The selection of Headmaster and Superintendent shall be based upon seniority and satisfactory Annual Confidential Report for last 3 consecutive years as per procedure provided under sub-rule (3) :

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Provided that the seniority of the Graduate Teacher shall be determined from the date of receiving Graduate scale of pay by the respective Assistant Teacher.

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(2) Eligibility for the post of Headmaster/Superintendent in High School/High Madrassa as the case may be shall be as follows:-

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(a) He must be B.A/B.Sc/B.Com with B.T/B.Ed degree from any recognized University. In respect of Hindi Teacher having degree qualification, the Hindi ‘Parangat’ and ‘Nishanar’ shall be considered instead of B.T/B.Ed;

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(b) He must have at least 10 years of teaching experience as Graduate Teacher:

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Provided that the Graduate teacher shall include the cadre of Assistant Headmaster for the purpose of selection to the post of Headmaster and the seniority of the Assistant Headmaster shall be counted from the date of joining as Graduate Teacher with graduate scale of pay:

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Provided further that in case of amalgamated High School where ME/MV school has been amalgamated, the Assistant Headmaster is eligible for selection as Head-master subject to the condition that the incumbent should have at least 15 years of teaching experience as graduate teacher including the period of service in the erstwhile ME/MV School.

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(3)(i) Before the end of the year the Inspector of Schools shall make an assessment of the number of vacancies to be occurred in the cadres of Headmaster/Superintendent and to be filled up by promotion in the next year;

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(ii) The Inspector of Schools shall call particulars in the prescribed format of the eligible candidates/teachers for filling up of the vacancies through promotion. The Member-Secretary shall hold the process of the applications and submit them to the District Selection Committee;

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(iii) The District Selection Committee shall hold interview category wise and prepare a panel of select list double the number of vacancies of the concerned district;

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Mr. B. Purkayastha, learned counsel for the petitioners would argue that although each one of them have put in long years of service as Graduate Teachers in venture schools (subsequently their services were provincialized in the year 2013), the period of service they have put in as Graduate Teachers in a venture school are not being counted while recruitment process for the post of Headmaster is being undertaken.

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Undoubtedly, only a Graduate Teacher can be considered for promotion to the post of Headmaster and this has to be done in terms of Rule 14 of the 2018 Rules. The definition of „Graduate Teacher‟ is given in Rule 2(i) and it reads as under:

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“2.(i) “Graduate Teacher” means and includes the category of Assistant Teacher, Classical teacher of Higher Secondary or Senior Secondary (erstwhile Junior College) or High Madrassa or a High School including amalgamated Higher Secondary and Senior Secondary and High Schools for whose appointment the minimum qualification is Graduate in Arts/Science/Commerce from recognized University including Demonstrators of a provincialized Higher Secondary School or a Senior Secondary School.”.

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(iv) The select list so prepared by the District Selection Committee shall be submitted to the State Selection Board. The State Selection Board after necessary verification as may be required, shall prepare a district-wise select list equal to the number of vacancies and publish the same in the office notice Board or in such other places as the Director may consider fit and proper;

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(v) After publication of the select list, the Appointing Authority shall issue promotion order from the approved select list;

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(vi) The validity of the select list shall not exceed beyond one year from the date of its publication by the Director.

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In other words, inter alia a Graduate Teacher would mean a Graduate Teacher of a provincialized High School. What is important for our purposes to note here is that a Graduate Teacher is a Graduate Teacher of a provincialized school. SubRule (2) of Rule 14 lays down elaborate conditions which a Graduate Teacher is required to meet in order to be qualified for being considered for promotion to the post of Headmaster and one of these conditions is that he must not only be a Graduate with B.T/B.Ed degree, but he should also have 10 years of experience as a Graduate Teacher. Since the definition of Graduate Teacher does not include a teacher who has served as a teacher in a venture school but specifically states that a Graduate Teacher would be a Graduate Teacher of a provincialized school, the period of service the petitioners have rendered as a “Graduate Teacher in a venture school” is not liable to be counted. Since the services of the petitioners were only provincialized with effect from 01.01.2013, admittedly, they have not put in 10 years of service as Graduate Teachers and, therefore, they are not liable to be considered for promotion to the post of Headmaster.

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The contention of the petitioners that the condition stipulated in the proviso to sub-Rule (1) of Rule 14 is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India, cannot be accepted. It is not acceptable for the simple reason that a reasonable classification is permitted under Article 14 of the Constitution of India. The provision mandates that the seniority of Graduate

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Teachers is to be counted from the date they are getting the scale of a Graduate Teacher. The present petitioners were appointed as Graduate Teachers earlier in venture schools where they were admittedly not getting the scale of a Graduate Teacher. This they received only after their services were provincialized w.e.f. 01.01.2013. The services in a venture school cannot be equated with that of a provincialsed school. Moreover, in a venture school there was admittedly no transparency in appointment of teachers/Headmaster etc. Post was seldom advertised and the admitted position is that recruitment was made on the basis of the procedure followed by each of the Management Committee. It is only when services of such teachers have been provincialised that a criteria was kept and for this reason there is absolutely no anomaly as regarding the fact that a Graduate Teacher will be considered as a Graduate Teacher only after his services have been provincialized.

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We find absolutely no anomaly in the aforesaid provision and consequently we find no merit in this writ petition.

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The writ petition is dismissed.

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JUDGE CHIEF JUSTICE

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Comparing Assistant

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Pralaykanti Chowdhury and 3 Ors. v. the State of Assam and 3 Ors.

Case brief

What is this about?

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Pralaykanti Chowdhury and 3 Ors. v. the State of Assam and 3 Ors.

Case brief

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What did the court decide?

What the court decided

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