Vishnu Bhagwan Jadhav vs The State Of Maharashtra And Ors
2017 Latest Caselaw 10038 Bom

                                    1              WP 1728/2007 & Anr.

        IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE OF BOMBAY
                   BENCH AT AURANGABAD

                      WRIT PETITION NO.1728 OF 2007
                                     

  Shri. Yeshwant Rupchand Kolhe,
  Age: 36 years, Occu.:Nil,
  R/o. Bamnoth, Tq. Yawal,
  Dist. Jalgaon                            ...   PETITIONER


           VERSUS


  1.       The State of Maharashtra,
           Through its Secretary,
           School Education Department,
           Mantralaya, Mumbai


  2.       The Additional Commissioner,
           Aurangabad


  3.       The Chief Executive Officer,
           Zilla Parishad, Jalna


  4.       The Education Officer, (Primary),
           Zilla Parishad Jalna.


  5.       The Maharashtra State Examination
           Board, Pune, 
           17 Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar Marg,
           Pune-1                          ...   RESPONDENTS




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                                     2              WP 1728/2007 & Anr.

                                  WITH
                      WRIT PETITION NO.7248 OF 2007
  Vishnu S/o. Bhagwan Jadhav
  Age:32 years, Occu.:Nil,
  R/o. Samarth Colony, Near Salve
  Flower Mill, Tq. and Dist. Jalna
                                                    ...PETITIONER
                   VERSUS


  1.       The State of Maharashtra 
           Through its Secretary,
           School Education Department,
           Mantralaya, Mumbai.


  2.       The Additional Commissioner,
           Aurangabad.


  3.       The Chief Executive Officer,
           Zilla Parishad, Jalna.


  4.       The Education Officer (Primary)
           Zilla Parishad, Jalna.


  5.       The Maharashtra State Examination
           Board, Pune, 
           17 Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar Marg,
           Pune-1                          ...   RESPONDENTS
                                   ...




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                                       3             WP 1728/2007 & Anr.

  Shri. V.D. Sapkal, Adv. h/f. K.M. Nagarkar, Adv. 
  for  Petitioner;

  Shri. S.P. Tiwari, AGP for State;

  Shri.   V.R.   Sonwalkar,   Advocate   for   Respondent 
  No.3;

  Shri. A.R. Nikam, Advocate for Respondent No.5.

                                   -----


                               CORAM :  P.R.BORA,J.

   
  RESERVED ON:    3
                     rd
                        
                        August, 2017
                                    
   
  PRONOUNCED ON 22
                     
                   nd
                       December,2017
                                    


                                   
  JUDGMENT:

1) Heard Shri V.D.Sapkal, learned Counsel

appearing for petitioner in Writ Petition No.

1728/2007. Petitioner in Writ Petition No.

7248/2007 is appearing in person. He adopted the

arguments advanced by Shri Sapkal, contending

that his case is similar to the case of the

petitioner in Writ Petition No.1728/2007. Learned

AGP Shri S.P.Tiwari made submissions on behalf of

the State. Shri V.R.Sonwalkar argued on behalf

of Respondent No.3 in both these writ petitions,

i.e. Zilla Parishad, Jalna. Advocate Shri

4 WP 1728/2007 & Anr.

A.R.Nikam made submissions for Respondent No. 5 -

Maharashtra State Examination Board, Pune, in

both the writ petitions.

2) Since the issues involved in both the

writ petitions are common, I deem it appropriate

to decide both these writ petitions by a common

reasoning.

3) Shri Yashwant Rupchand Kolhe, petitioner

in Writ Petition No.1728/2007 was appointed as a

primary teacher in Kendriya Prathmik Shala,

Pikangaon, vide order dated 19th August, 1996 by

Chief Executive Officer, Zilla Parishad, Jalna,

whereas Shri Vishnu Bhagwan Jadhav, petitioner in

Writ Petition No.7248/2007 was appointed as Un-

trained primary teacher at Kendriya Prathmik

Shala, Karjat, Tq. Ambad, District Jalna, vide

order dated 4th August, 1998 issued by Chief

Executive Officer, Zilla Parishad, Jalna.

  4)               The appointments of both the petitioners 





                                      5              WP 1728/2007 & Anr.

were subject to the final outcome of Writ

Petition No.5749/1995. At the time of his

appointment, petitioner - Yashwant Kolhe was

possessing the qualification of H.S.C. and had

passed the Diploma in Teaching Examination from

Dr. Hari Singh Gaur University, Sagar (Madhya

Pradesh) whereas petitioner Vishnu Bhagwan Jadhav

was having qualification of H.S.C. and Diploma

in Teaching from Devi Ahilya Vishwa Vidyalaya,

Indore (M.P.)

5) The services of both the petitioners

came to be terminated vide order dated 9th March,

2001 passed by Chief Executive Officer, Zilla

Parishad, Jalna. The orders dated 9th March, 2001

were passed by the Chief Executive Officer, Zilla

Parishad, Jalna on the basis of the decision of

the Division Bench of this Court rendered on 6th

December, 2000 in Writ Petition No.5749/1995. It

has to be stated that Writ Petition Nos.

5407/1997 and 4091/1999 along with certain other

petitions were also disposed of in terms of the

6 WP 1728/2007 & Anr.

order passed in Writ Petition No.5749/1995. The

aforesaid writ petitions were disposed of in

terms of the following order, -

" The petition is disposed of in terms of the following order.

(i) The candidates who were admitted to the Diploma in Teaching course under the Dr. Hari Singh Gaur Vishwa Vidyalaya, Sagar and Devi Ahilya Vishwa Vidyalaya, Indore, before 31st May, 1993 are eligible for appointment as Assistant Teachers (trained) in the primary schools in the State of Maharashtra.

(ii) The candidates who were admitted to the said course under the said two universities after 31st May, 1993 or during the academic year 1993-94 onwards are not eligible for appointment as Assistant Teacher in the primary schools in the State of Maharashtra notwithstanding the Government Notifications dated 8th March, 1995 and 10th December, 1998.

                                             7             WP 1728/2007 & Anr.

                    (iii)          If such eligible candidates 

are presently in employment as Assistant Teachers in primary schools in the State of Maharashtra, their appointments shall be approved from the date of their initial appointment after they have acquired the Diploma in Teaching qualifications from the above mentioned universities.

(iv) Those candidates who are eligible and selected but could not be given appointment orders during the pendency of these petitions shall be issued appointment orders as Assistant Teacher subject, however, to the availability of vacancies in the said posts.

(v) Those candidates who were appointed as Assistant Teacher but were removed from service during the pendency of these petitions shall be reconsidered for appointment subject to availability of vacancies for the post of Assistant Teacher/Shikshan Sevak.

                                        8                  WP 1728/2007 & Anr.

                    (vi)       The   eligible   candidates, 

who are without employment as at present, shall be considered for appointment as Shikshan Sewak pursuant to the Government Resolution dated 10th March, 2000 and their cases may be considered for such appointment as per merit and subject to availability of vacancies.

Rule made partly absolute in terms of the above orders. No costs."

6) After the services of the petitioners

were terminated, vide the aforesaid order, both

the petitioners filed the appeals before the

Divisional Commissioner, Aurangabad under Rule 14

of Maharashtra Zilla Parishad District Services

(Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1964. The appeal

filed by Yashwant Kolhe was numbered as 51/2005,

whereas the appeal filed by Vishnu Jadhav was

numbered as 50/2005.

7) The learned Divisional Commissioner,

vide order passed on 17th February, 2007,

9 WP 1728/2007 & Anr.

dismissed both these appeals by delivering

separate judgments in both these appeals. Though

the learned Commissioner has delivered two

separate judgments in both these appeals, the

reasons, as are assigned by him in both the

judgments are ad verbatim same. Aggrieved by the

aforesaid decision of the learned Divisional

Commissioner, Aurangabad, the petitioners have

filed the present writ petitions.

8) During pendency of the present writ

petitions, the petitioners sought amendment in

their petitions in view of the judgment delivered

by the Hon'ble Apex court in the case of Ramesh

Rajaram Awchar Vs. State of Maharashtra and

others in Civil Appeal No.7468/2008 on 8th

September, 2015.

9) Shri V.D.Sapkal, learned Counsel

appearing for the petitioner Shri Kolhe,

submitted that the present writ petitions can be

disposed of in view of the judgment of the

10 WP 1728/2007 & Anr.

Hon'ble Apex court in the case of Ramesh Vs.

State of Maharashtra, referred herein above. The

learned Counsel appearing for the respondents

opposed the submission made by Shri Sapkal and

submitted that the said decision may not apply to

the facts of the present petitions.

10) After having perused the judgment of the

Hon'ble Apex court in the case of Ramesh Awchar,

referred herein above and considered the facts

involved in the present petitions in light of the

said decision, it appears to me that both the

present writ petitions can be certainly disposed

of in view of the aforesaid judgment of the

Hon'ble Apex court by passing similar order in

the present writ petitions.

11) One Ramesh Rajaram Awchar had filed Writ

Petition No.2195/2005 before this Court. Said

Ramesh was possessing the qualification of Higher

Secondary Certificate (H.S.C.) from Amravati

Divisional Board and Diploma in Teaching from

11 WP 1728/2007 & Anr.

"Devi Ahilya Vishwa Vidyalaya, Indore (M.P.)".

The said petitioner had completed the said

Diploma course during the period between 2.9.1994

to 3.4.1996. He was appointed as an Assistant

Teacher in Swami Samarth Vidya Mandir, Jai

Bhavani Nagar, CIDDO, Aurangabad w.e.f.

14.6.1999. After having got knowledge that

teachers who completed the Diploma in Teaching

from Devi Ahilya Vishwa Vidyalaya Indore (M.P.)

were not being held entitled to be treated as

qualified to be appointed as teachers in the

State of Maharashtra, the said petitioner filed

the aforesaid petition before this Court and

along with the other reliefs, sought declaration

to the effect that he, who was holding Diploma in

Teaching from Devi Ahilya Vishwa Vidyalaya,

Indore in the State of Madhya Pradesh, shall be

treated as a trained teacher for all purposes.

12) The Division Bench of this Court (Coram:

Naresh H.Patil & R.M.Borde,JJ.), which heard the

said writ petition, vide order passed on 20 th

12 WP 1728/2007 & Anr.

December, 2006, rejected the said writ petition,

relying on the earlier decision of the Division

Bench of this Court in Writ Petition No.

5749/1995. Aggrieved by the aforesaid decision

of the Division Bench of this Court, petitioner -

Ramesh Awchar approached the Hon'ble Apex court

by filing Civil Appeal No.7468/2008. During the

course of hearing of the aforesaid appeal before

the Hon'ble Apex court, a notification issued by

the State of Maharashtra on 12th December, 2006

was brought to the notice of Hon'ble Apex court,

which reads thus, -

                   "Having         consulted            with            the 
                   Maharashtra                Public            Service 

Commission it was decided vide Govt. decision dated 10 December, 1998 that, the degree/diploma conferred by the Universities founded as per the laws of the Central and State Legislature, other Educational Institutions founded as per the laws of the parliament or the Deemed Universities declared under Part-3 under Universities Grants Commission Act 1956 and the degree in the

13 WP 1728/2007 & Anr.

Medical and Related subjects included in the Appendix of Medical Board of India Act 1956 should be deemed as having received automatic sanction for the recruitment on the state service and posts barring teaching posts in the government colleges.

2. Now an up to date list from University Grants Commission recognized of Universities and Institutes is attached with the said order. The list mentioned in Govt. decision, General Administration Department, No.RGD-1398/Admin. No.67/98/13, dated 10 December, 1998 should now be deemed as revised as above and the degree/ diploma conferred by the Universities/Institutes mentioned in the said list should be deemed as having automatic sanction for the purpose mentioned in the above paragraph."

13) Similarly, it was also brought to the

notice of the Hon'ble Apex court that in light of

14 WP 1728/2007 & Anr.

the fresh list of recognition from University

Grants Commission (UGC), Devi Ahilya Vishwa

Vidyalaya, Indore finds place at Sr.No.125 and it

stood recognized by the State of Maharashtra. It

was also brought to the notice of the Hon'ble

Apex court that the School Education & Sports

Department, therefore, took the following the

decision dated 16.12.2010, which reads thus, -

" Whereas, the Central Administration Department vide Govt. Decision dated 12 December 2006 has issued orders that, the Degree/Diploma conferred by the Universities recognized by the University Grants Commission should be deemed having received automatic sanction for the recruitment on the services and posts in the State barring teacher's posts in government colleges. Accordingly, the Hon'ble High Court, Division Bench, Nagpur has given orders on dated 22 July, 2009 in connection with the Writ Petition No.4496/2008 that, the government should decide whether the Training Diploma outside the State of Maharashtra are valid

15 WP 1728/2007 & Anr.

or not. There in inconsistency found in the said government decision taken by the School Education and Sports Department and General Administration Department. In order to do away with the said inconsistency the issue of determining the equivalency of Training Diploma outside the State of Maharashtra was under consideration of the government. In this behalf the decision has been taken as follows.

Govt. decision - Having superseded Paragraph No.3 in the Government Education Decision dated 31 May, 1993. All the D.Ed. Diploma Holders outside Maharashtra and the Diploma holders who have received Diploma from the Universities recognized by the University Grants Commission and approved by NCTE should be deemed equivalent with the Diploma in teaching/Education in the State. However, the said candidates would be eligible, subject to following conditions, for the Primary Teaching Staff Recruitment in the State, prescribed vide School Education and

16 WP 1728/2007 & Anr.

Sports Department Govt. decision No.Pre-2006 (4767)/PE-1, dated 16 December, 2009 -

(1) Such Diploma Holder candidate should have domicile of Maharashtra for at least 15 years.

(2) Such candidate would be required to pass the examination of Marathi Language of the prescribed Board after being selected as Primary Teacher staff.

(3) Such candidate would be required to pass the computer examination of the M.S.C.I.T. authorized by the Maharashtra State Board of Higher and Technical Education, Mumbai as per Govt. decision No.- Training-

August, 2001".

14) Attention of the Hon'ble Apex court was

also invited to Annexure-8 filed with

I.A.No.5/2014, which was a copy of order dated

30th September, 2011 passed by Chief Executive

Officer, Zilla Parishad, Aurangabad, disclosing

the benefit given to another teacher viz. Gaikwad

Yogendra Raghunath, who was treated as trained

17 WP 1728/2007 & Anr.

teacher. It was submitted before the Hon'ble

Apex court that petitioner - Ramesh Awchar stands

on the equal footing with Yogendra Gaikwad and as

such, he cannot be deprived of the benefit

extended to said Shri Yogendra Gaikwad.

Considering the aforesaid submissions, the

Hon'ble Apex court on 5.11.2014 passed the

following order, -

" Regard being had to the said decision, we would like the Secretary, Department of Education, to take a decision on the basis of the aforesaid resolutions and keeping in view the doctrine of parity. This Court hopes and trusts that the decision to be taken by the State Government shall be an informed one and definitely indicating the spirit of equality, for it has extended the benefits to similarly situated persons which is prima facie demonstrable. Let the State Government take a decision within a period of eight weeks and file the decision before this Court."

                                     18              WP 1728/2007 & Anr.

  15)              As has been observed by the Hon'ble Apex 

court in the judgment passed in Civil Appeal

No.7468 of 2008, the Hon'ble Apex court was

informed that the State Government had issued

letter dated 03.06.2015 addressed to the

Education Officer (Primary), Aurangabad,

approving Diploma in Teaching obtained by Ramesh

Rajaram Awchar from outside the Maharashtra as

equivalent to D.T.Ed. Degree in the State. The

Hon'ble Apex court in view of the developments,

as aforesaid, directed the State Government to

take further steps, giving appellant Ramesh

Awchar the notional benefit with effect from the

date he was appointed as Assistant Teacher in the

school run by respondent no.6 i.e. Zilla

Parishad, Aurangabad.

16) Shri Sapkal, learned counsel appearing

for the petitioner, invited my attention to

letter dated 03.06.2015 issued from the School

Education and Sports Department of the State of

Maharashtra, addressed to the Education Officer

19 WP 1728/2007 & Anr.

(Primary), Zilla Parishad, Aurangabad. Perusal

of the said letter reveals that the State

Government has approved the Diploma in Teaching

obtained from Devi Ahilya Vishwa Vidyalaya,

Indore and Dr. Hari Singh Gaur Vishwa Vidyalaya,

Sagar, as equivalent to the D.T.Ed. Degree in the

State of Maharashtra.

17) After having considered the facts, as

aforesaid, I am convinced that the cases of the

present petitioners stand at par with the case of

Ramesh Awchar and Yogendra Raghunath Gaikwad. As

noted above, petitioner Yashwant Kolhe has

completed Diploma in Teaching Course from Dr.

Hari Singh Gaur Vishwa Vidyalaya, Sagar whereas,

petitioner Vishnu Bhagwan Jadhav has completed

Diploma in Teaching Course from Devi Ahilya

Vishwa Vidyalaya, Indore. Both the petitioners

were held not eligible for appointment as

Assistant Teacher for the reason that they were

admitted to the said course with the said

universities after 31st May, 1993 when the said

20 WP 1728/2007 & Anr.

degrees were not held equivalent to the degree of

Diploma in Education in the State of Maharashtra

in view of Government Resolution dated 31st May,

1993. Shri Ramesh Awchar had also completed the

said course of Diploma in Teaching from Devi

Ahilya Vishwa Vidyalaya, Indore in Madhya Pradesh

State after 31st May, 1993, more particularly

during the period between 02.09.1994 to

31.04.1996. Now, vide the letter dated

03.06.2015 the State of Maharashtra has approved

the Diploma in Teaching obtained by Ramesh Awchar

from Devi Ahilya Vishwa Vidyalaya, Indore as

equivalent to the D.T.Ed. degree in the State of

Maharashtra. In the said letter there is also

reference to the degrees obtained from Dr. Hari

Singh Gaur Vishwa Vidyalaya, Sagar. In the

circumstances, the cases of both the present

petitioners stand at par with Shri Ramesh Awchar

as well as Shri Yogendra Gaikwad and both the

petitioners deserve to be granted the relief

which has been granted by the Hon'ble Apex court

in the case of Ramesh Awchar.

                                       21              WP 1728/2007 & Anr.

  18)              For   the   reasons   stated   herein   above, 

  following order is passed:



                                   ORDER
                   i)          The   decision   rendered   by   the 

Divisional Commissioner, Aurangabad in Appeal Nos.50 of 2005 and 51 of 2005 is quashed and set aside. Consequently, the order dated 09.03.2001, whereby the services of the petitioners came to be terminated, is also quashed and set aside.

ii) The respondents are directed to reinstate the petitioners in the Schools run by Zilla Parishad, Jalna.

iii) The petitioners shall be paid salary w.e.f. 03.06.2015 in the pay scale, as admissible to the Assistant Teachers, who had obtained Diploma in Teaching from the recognized Institute / University.

iv) The respondents shall take necessary steps to give the petitioners notional benefits with effect from the date they were appointed as Assistant

22 WP 1728/2007 & Anr.

Teacher in the Schools run by Zilla Parishad, Jalna.

v) For the pensionary benefits, if any, the petitioners be treated in service from the date of their initial appointment.

vi) Both the Writ Petitions stand allowed in the aforesaid terms.

                   vii)            No order as to costs.



                                        
                              
                                  (P.R.BORA)
                                                      JUDGE 
                                         

  bdv/
  fldr 19.12.17