Smt. S .Seethamma Vs The State of Telangana rep. by its Secretary to

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HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA (Special Original Jurisdiction)

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THURSDAY, THE TWENTY SEVENTH DAY OF FEBRUARY TWO THOUSAND AND TWENry FIVE

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PRESENT

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THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE NAGESH BHEEMAPAKA

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WRIT PETITION NO: 46229 OF 2016

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Between:

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Smt.. S .Seethamma, D/o, Chinnabi, Aged about 54 years, Formerly LFL Headmaster, _(Now . reverted as S6condary Graie teacher)^'ApS Parkalagandi, Bhadradi, Kothagudem District.

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,..PETITIONER

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AND

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1 The State of Telangana rep. by its Secretary to, Government, Tribal Welfare Department, Secretariat, TS., Hyderabad.

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2 The Commissioner of Tribal Welfare,, Telangana State, Hyderabad. 3 The Deputy Director (TW), l.T.D.A., Bhadrachalam., - 4 The Diskict Tribal Development Officer,, Bhadradri, Kothagudem District. 5 S. Kanthamma, LFL Head Master,, A.P.S parkalagandi, Bhadradi Kothagudem Dist

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...RESPONDENTS

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Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of lndia praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed therewith, the High Court may be pleased toto issue an appropriate writ, order or direction more particularly one in the nature of writ of Mandamus, declaring the action of the 4th respondent in reverting the petitioner from the post of LFL Head master to that of Secondary Grade Teacher vide impugned orders issued in Rc. No. A4lDTDo/ i395/ 2oi6 dated 29-10-2016 as being arbitrary, illegal, unjust, contrary to the provisions of Rules 23,24,25 and 26 of the A P. state and Subordinate service Ruies 1996 and in violation of Articles 14 and 16 of the constitution of lndia and set aside the same accordingly and consequen{ly. hold that the petitioner is entifled to be continued as LFL Headmaster in t6rr{rs of the order of promotion issued by the 3rd respondent in Rc.No.A4lDD(TWyt395/2016 dated 19-9-2016 with alt benefits, which are ancillary and incidental thereof.

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l.A. NO: 1 OF 2016(WPMP. NO: 56930 OF 2Oj6)

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Petition under section 151 cpc praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed in support of the petition, the High court may be pleased to suspend the operation of the impugned proceedings issued by the 4th iespondent in Rc.No. A4lDTDo/1395t 2016 dated 29-10-20 16 and further direct the officiat respondents to continue the petitioner as LFL Headmaster.

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Counsel for the Petitioner: SRl. V RAVICHANDRAN Counsel for the Respondent Nos.1 to 4: Gp FOR TRIBAL WELFARE DEPARTMENT. Counsel forthe Respondent No.S: None appeared. The Court made the following: ORDER

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HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE^NAGESH BHEEMAPAKA

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WRIT PETITION No.46229^{of 2016}

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ORDER:

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The petitioner was appointed^{as a Secondary Grade Teacher (SGT)} vide Proceedings dated 09.09.1991 issued^{by the DistrictEducational} Officer (Agency), Paloncha, and^{shejoinedthe post on 11.09.1991. Her} services were regularized^with effect^{from 1l .09.1991vide Proceedings} dated 29.08.1998. The petitioner^{was promotedas LF'L Headmastervide} Proceedings dated 19.9.2016 issued by^{the 3'd respondent-Depury} Director (Tribat Welfare),^{ITDA,Bhadrachalarn, and she joined the post} on 22.09.2016. lt is her^case that^{a TentativeSeniorityList dated} 30.06.2016 of SGT^{(Female) was prepared by the respondentauthorities} wherein the petitioner-S.Seetharnma^{u'as shownat Serial No.3 with the} date of regularization as^{11.09.1991,and the name of 5th respondent-} S.Kanthamma was shown^{at Serial No.l0 with the date of regularization} as28.01 .1993. Final Seniority^{List was communicatedon 15.09.2016and} she was promoted as LFL^{Headmaster basingon her placement in the} Seniority List. However, subsequently^{the 5th respondentgavea} representation dated 2l .09.2016^{to the authorities,basingon which the} 3'd respondent has called^{for objections vide Merno dated 29 .09.2016; and} the petitioner replied to the^{objectionsby way ofa detailed representation} dated 04.10.2016. It is the^{grievance of the petitioner that the 4th} respondent-District Tribal^{Welfare Officer, without considering the} petitioner's representation^{dated 04.10.2016,passed the impugned order} dated 29.10.2016 reverting^{the petitioner to the previouspost i.e.,} Secondary Grade Teacher.^{The petitioner thereforeassailsthe order dated}

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29.10.2016 passed by the 4th respondent as arbitrary, illegal and contrary to Rules 23,24 and 25 of the Telangana State and Subordinate Services Rules, I996.

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Heard Mr. V Ravichandran, learned counsel for the petitioner; and the leamed Government Pleader for Services. Perused the record.

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Leanred counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner was reverted to her previous post of SGT solely based on tl.rc representation dated 2l .09.2016 given by the 5th respondent, and on a purported verification of records; whereas the representation dated 04.10.2016 submitted by the petitioner in support of her case has not lreen considered by the respondent authorities. Leamed counsel subrnits that respective seniority position of the SGT candidates has been notified many times earlier and, in this instance, a temporary seniority tist has been notified in June 2016 and objections were called for and thereafter a final seniority list was published in September 2016. Lcarned counsel submits that no objections were received previously, and raising objcctions now after effecting promotions based on the final seniority list cannot be acccptable. Leamed counsel would further submit that this Court granted interim suspension on the ground of non-consideration of petitioner's representation before passing the impugned order dated 29. 10.2016, and the petitioner has continued in the post of LF-L Headmaster and now she has attained the age ofsuperannuation and therefore no lirrther orders may be required in the writ petition.

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The sum and substance of the submissions made by the leamed Govemment Pleader, basing on the counter affidavit fited by the 3'd respondent-Deputy Director (Tribal Welfare), is that possessing of

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Teacher Training Certificate (TTC) qualification is^{mandatory lbr} reckoning the date of seniority,^{and the petitionerhas passed the test in} the year 1999, and therefore her^{date ofregularizationhas been rectified} from 1991 to 1999 in the^{records,and after due verification of records,} she was reverted to^{the post of SGTby the impugnedorder.}

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At the outset, it^{may be noted that this Court,while admitting the} writ petition on29.12.2016'^{passed the following interim order in WPMP} No.56930 of 2016:

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"Since the impugned^{order has been passedwithout} considering the^{petitioner's representation dt.04'10'2016 to} the application made^{by the Sth respondent there shall be} interim suspension as^prayedfor."

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Having considered^{the respectivesubm issionsand perused the} record, it is^pertinent to^{note that the petitionerhas been reverted from} LFL Headmaster^{post to the post of SGT,based on an alteration to her} date ofregularization from^{l99l to 1999 on the groundthat she did not} qualify in the TTC exam^{at the relevanttime in l99l and that she obtained} the qualification only^{in the year 1999.}

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7 . It is settled law^{thatno actioncan be taken affecting the rights ofan} individual without^{considering his/hercase and affordingan opportunity} ofhearing. Except^{the counter affidavit stating that the records have been} verified and rectifications^{were cartied out, there is nothing on recordto} show that the^{respondent authoritieshave considered the petitioner's} representation dated^{04. I 0.201 6.}

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In view of^{the interim suspensiondated 29'12'2016'and} considering the submission^{of the [eamedcounsel for the petitionerthat}

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the petitioner has continued in the post of LFI- Headmaster and has attained the age of superannuation, this Coutt deems that no flrrther orders are required in the writ petition.

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