Bombay High Court
Adarsha Shikshan Sanstha, ... vs Murlidhar Yashwantrao Shahane & 2 ... on 20 August, 2016
Bench: Ravi K. Deshpande
1
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR
Writ Petition No.48 of 2008
And
Writ Petition No.535 of 2008
Writ Petition No.48 of 2008
Prabhakar Uttamrao Dhonde,
Aged about 52 years,
Occupation - Service,
R/o Borgaonpeth,
Tq. Achalpur,
District - Amravati. ... Petitioner
Versus
1. Murlidhar Yashwantrao Shahane,
Aged about 52 years,
Occupation - Service,
R/o Malveshpura,
Achalpur, Tq. Achalpur,
District - Amravati.
2. Adarsha Shikshan Sanstha,
Bhugaon, through its
Secretary, Tq. Achalpur,
District - Amravati.
3. The Education Officer (Secondary),
Zilla Parishad,
Amravati. ... Respondents
None for Petitioner.
Ms H.N. Jaipurkar, Assistant Government Pleader for Respondent
No.3.
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Writ Petition No.535 of 2008
Adarsha Shikshan Sanstha,
Bhugaon, through its
Secretary, Tahsil Achalpur,
District Amravati. ... Petitioner
Versus
1. Murlidhar Yashwantrao Shahane,
Aged about 52 years,
Occupation - Service,
R/o Malveshpura,
Achalpur,
Tahsil Achalpur,
Dist. Amravati.
2. The Education Officer (Secondary),
Zilla Parishad, Amravati.
3. Prabhakar Uttamrao Dhonde,
Aged about 52 years,
Occupation - Service,
R/o Borgaonpeth, Tahsil Achalpur,
District Amravati. ... Respondents
Smt. Neeta Jog, Advocate for Petitioner.
Ms H.N. Jaipurkar, Assistant Government Pleader for Respondent
No.2.
Coram : R.K. Deshpande, J.
Dated : 20th August, 2016
Oral Judgment :
1. The controversy in both these petitions pertain to the inter se
seniority between the petitioner-Prabhakar Uttamrao Dhonde and the
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respondent No.1-Murlidhar Yashwantrao Shahane in Writ Petition
No.48 of 2008. The service details of the petitioner and the
respondent No.1 are as under :
Sr.No. Description Petitioner-Prabhakar Respondent No.1-
Uttamrao Dhonde Murlidhar
Yashwantrao
Shahane
1. Qualification B.Sc. B.Sc.
2.
Initial appointment against the 16.07.1975
post of Assistant Teacher
18.07.1975
3. Date of acquiring B.Ed. 03.05.1978 03.05.1978
4. Date of Birth 16.06.1954 11.05.1954
2. On the basis of the aforesaid dates, the School Tribunal has
held, applying Note-3 under Schedule-F of the Maharashtra Employees
of Private Schools (Conditions of Service) Rules, 1981 ("MEPS Rules")
that the respondent No.1-Murlidhar Shahane being senior in age, shall
be placed above the petitioner, as the date of acquiring B.Ed.
qualification of the petitioner-Prabhakar Dhonde and the respondent
No.1 is the same, i.e. 3-5-1978, on which date both of them entered
into Category-C in Schedule-F. Before entering into Category-C, it is
an undisputed factual position that the petitioner-Prabhakar Dhonde
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was senior to the respondent No.1- Murlidhar Shahane on the basis of
continuous officiation from the date of appointment. The
petitioner-Prabhakar Dhonde was appointed as untrained teacher from
16-7-1975, whereas the respondent No.1-Murlidhar Shahane was
appointed as untrained teacher from 18-7-1975. However, the
seniority in the category of untrained teacher would be hardly of any
consequence for the purposes of promotion to the post of Head
Master, as the seniority of the persons in Category-C is required to be
considered.
3. Smt. Jog, the learned counsel appearing for the
Management, which supports the case of the petitioner-Prabhakar
Dhonde, submits that the question of inter se seniority between the
petitioner-Prabhakar Dhonde and the respondent No.1-Murlidhar
Shahane has attained the finality as per the decision of this Court in
Writ Petition No.822 of 2006 delivered on 2-4-2007 and the same
could not have been re-opened by the Tribunal. What was challenged
before this Court was the decision rendered by the Education Officer
on 10-11-2005 under Rule 12 of the MEPS Rules. Neither the MEPS
Act nor the Rules framed thereunder attach finality to the decision of
the Education Officer over seniority rendered under Rule 12 of the
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MEPS Rules. It is not disputed that as per the decisions of this Court
in the cases of Umesh Balkrishna Vispute v. State of Maharashtra,
reported in 2000 LawSuit (Bom) 504; and Vaijanath s/o Tatyarao
Shinde v. Secretary; Jeevanrao s/o Manikrao Deshmukh; Education
Officer (Primary), reported in 2006 LawSuit(Bom) 638, relied upon by
Smt. Jog, the learned counsel for the Management, the law is
well-settled that such adjudication is subject to further adjudication by
the School Tribunal in exercise of its jurisdiction under Section 9 of
the Maharashtra Employees of Private Schools (Conditions of Service)
Regulation Act, 1977, in the event of challenge to the supersession in
the matter of promotion.
4. On the date when the Education Officer adjudicated the
question of seniority on 10-11-2005, the petitioner-Prabhakar Dhande
was not promoted to the post of Head Master and the question of
challenging supersession did not arise. The petitioner-Prabhakar
Dhande was promoted on 25-4-2007 and the seniority was required to
be considered in Category-C, which is to be counted from the date of
acquisition of training qualification. The date of acquisition of training
qualification of the petitioner-Prabhakar Dhonde and the respondent
No.1-Murlidhar Shahane being the same, no fault can be found with
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the view taken by the Tribunal to apply Note-3 under Schedule-F of
the MEPS Rules.
5. In the result, both these petitions are dismissed. No order as
to costs.
JUDGE.
Lanjewar
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CERTIFICATE
"I certify that this Judgment uploaded is a true and
correct copy of original signed Judgment."
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Uploaded on : 23-8-2016
