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O.Selvam vs The Commissioner Of School ...
2022 Latest Caselaw 6157 Mad

Citation : 2022 Latest Caselaw 6157 Mad
Judgement Date : 25 March, 2022

Madras High Court
O.Selvam vs The Commissioner Of School ... on 25 March, 2022
                                                                 W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022


                                  BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT

                                                 DATED : 25.03.2022

                                                      CORAM:

                                   THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE PARESH UPADHYAY
                                                      and
                                  THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE KRISHNAN RAMASAMY

                                          W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022
                                      and C.M.P.(MD) Nos. 2399 and 2400 of 2022

                     W.A(MD)No. 254 of 2022:

                     1.   O.Selvam
                     2.   S.Sivakumar
                     3.   M.Indira
                     4.   M.Ananth                                               .. Appellants


                                                         Vs

                     1.The Commissioner of School Education,
                       O/o. Commissioner of School Education,
                       Nungambakkam,
                       Chennai.

                     2.The Joint Director of School Education (Personnel),
                       O/o. The Joint Director of School Education,
                       Chennai – 600 006.

                     3.The Chief Educational Officer,
                       Dindigul District,
                       Dindigul.

                     4.The Chief Educational Officer,
                       Theni District,
                       Theni.

                     5.The Chief Educational Officer,
                       Madurai District,
                       Madurai.


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                     1/31
                                                                W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022


                     6.The Chief Educational Officer,
                       Kanyakumari District,
                       Kanyakumari.

                     7.The Chief Educational Officer,
                       Ramanathapuram District,
                       Ramanathapuram.

                     8.M.Palpandi
                     9.K.Venkatesan
                     10.R.Venkatraman
                     11.A.Iyappan
                     12.Y.L.Rajamohan
                     13.S.George Benet
                     14.S.Jeyaram
                     15.R.Sureshkumar                                       .. Respondents

PRAYER: Writ Appeal filed under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent against the common order dated 04.03.2022 recorded on W.P.(MD) No. 429 of 2022 and cognate petitions.

                                  For Appellant   : Mr.M.Ajmalkhan
                                                    Senior Counsel for
                                                    M/s.Ajmal Associates
                                  For             : Mr.Veera Kathiravan,
                                  Respondents       Additional Advocate General
                                                    Assisted by
                                                    Mr.S.P.Maharajan
                                                    Special Government Pleader for
                                                    R1 to 7

                     W.A(MD)No. 255 of 2022:

                     K.Shanthi                                                   .. Appellant

                                                        Vs

1.The Commissioner of School Education, O/o. Commissioner of School Education, Nungambakkam, Chennai.

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W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022

2.The Joint Director of School Education (Personnel), O/o. The Joint Director of School Education, Chennai – 600 006.

3.The Chief Educational Officer, Karur District, Karur.

4.The District Educational Officer, O/o. District Educational Office, Karur Taluk, Karur District. .. Respondents

PRAYER: Writ Appeal filed under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent against the order dated 04.03.2022 recorded on W.P.(MD) No. 807 of 2022.

                                  For Appellant     : Mr.M.Ajmalkhan
                                                      Senior Counsel for
                                                      M/s.Ajmal Associates

For Respondents : Mr.Veera Kathiravan, Additional Advocate General Assisted by Mr.S.P.Maharajan Special Government Pleader

COMMON JUDGMENT

[Delivered by PARESH UPADHYAY, J.]

Challenge in these appeals is made to the common order

dated 04.03.2022 recorded on group of petitions being W.P.(MD)

Nos. 429, 644, 787 & 807 of 2022. These two appeals are arising

from W.P.(MD) No. 429 of 2022 and W.P.(MD) No. 807 of 2022.

These appeals are by the writ petitioners.

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W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022

2. Mr.Ajmal Khan, learned Senior Advocate for the

writ petitioners / appellants has submitted that, the general

directions issued by the respondent State Authorities dated 06

January 2022 and the consequential transfer / posting orders issued

on 07 January 2022, which were impugned in the writ petitions

were not only illegal and arbitrary but the official respondents did

not have any authority to pass that order in view of the statutory

rules holding the field. It is submitted that, the petitioners were

initially appointed as Graduate Teachers / B.T. Assistants and on

satisfying the conditions of passing examinations etc., as

contemplated under the Rules, they were appointed on the post of

Deputy Inspector of Schools by way of transfer which is recognized

as the sole mode of appointment on that post. It is submitted that

though the appointment of the petitioners on the post of Deputy

Inspector of Schools was by way of transfer, it would be wrong to

consider the said order as 'transfer order' in view of the rule that

the said order was not 'administrative transfer' but was a recognized

and sole mode of appointment, as provided under the Rule. It is

submitted that, transferring the petitioners from the post of Deputy

Inspector of Schools to that of Graduate Teacher is not

contemplated under the Rules and therefore the general orders to

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W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022

transfer all Deputy Inspector of Schools who have completed certain

years of service in that post as Graduate Teachers, is inconsistent

with the notification dated 30 January 2020. It is submitted that,

the said order being unsustainable, was initially rightly stayed by

this Court which ought to have been considered by the writ court at

the time of final hearing and dismissal of the writ petitions, more

particularly for the reasons recorded in para: 23 and 31 are

erroneous. It is submitted that, the said error is an error apparent

on the face of record, which needs to be corrected by this Court

under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent Act. While referring to the

Government notification dated 30 January 2020, reference is also

made to the Subordinate Service Rules as contained in manual of

2016 by specific reference to Section 48 to contend that, in the

earlier set of Rules, the post of Deputy Inspector of Schools and

Graduate Assistants was interchangeable, however the same is not

the position, in view of the subsequent notification dated 30 January

2020. It is submitted that these appeals be allowed by setting aside

the order of learned Single Judge and by setting aside the orders

impugned in the writ petitions.

3.1 On the other hand, Mr.Veera Kathiravan, learned

Additional Advocate General has opposed these appeals. It is

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W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022

submitted that, the orders impugned in the writ petitions were

simple transfer on administrative ground. It is submitted that the

stand of the State, as contained in the counters which were on

record is rightly taken into consideration while deciding the writ

petitions and no interference be made by this Court. Attention of the

Court is invited to the relevant paragraphs of the impugned order

wherein the stand of the State is reflected and the same is

reiterated before us as well. It read as under:-

“11. The learned Additional Advocate

General further contended that the post

of Deputy Inspector of Schools is

defined in Class-I Category-1 of re-

issue of the Special Rules for Tamil

Nadu School Educational Subordinate

Service vide G.O.Ms.No.12, School

Education Department, dated 30.01.2020.

The post of Deputy Inspector of Schools

is equivalent to the post of Graduate

Teacher (Subjects, Tamil, English)

defined in Class - I Category-2, Class-

II, Class-III and Class-IV of the same

service. Rule-2 of the Special Rules

provides “Appointment”. Sub-Rule (a) to

Rule 2 of the Special Rules contemplates

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W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022

appointment to several classes and

categories of the service to be made as

contemplated under the Rules. The posts

of Deputy Inspector of Schools and

Graduate Teacher (Tamil, English, Maths,

Science and Social Science) belong to

the same cadre with identical scale of

pay. But, pass in the departmental

tests, such as District Office Manual,

Tamil Nadu School Education

Administrative Test-Paper I, Paper-II

and Account Test for Subordinate

Officers Part-I are mandatory for

getting transfer to the post of Deputy

Inspector of Schools from the post of

Graduate Teacher as prescribed in Rule 8

of the Service Rules. Thus, anyone of

the qualified Graduate Teachers

possessing pass in departmental tests

can be posted as Deputy Inspector of

Schools by way of transfer. The post of

Deputy Inspector of Schools is the

administrative post in the Office of the

District Educational Officer.

12. The learned Additional Advocate

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W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022

General further contended that if the

monitoring staff in the administrative

posts of the School Education Department

such as P.A. to CEO (HSS HM Cadre), PA

to CEO (High School HM Cadre) in the

Chief Educational Offices and Deputy

Inspector of Schools in DEO Offices,

BRTE-s working in various districts

under the Samagra Shiksha Scheme, are

allowed to work more than three years in

the same station, the purpose of

monitoring would lose it's merits.

Hence, the Government took a policy

decision vide G.O.Ms.No.134, School

Education Department, dated 18.08.2021

to conduct zero counselling to 3700

BRTE-s working in various districts

under Samagra Shiksha Scheme as they are

working more than seven years in the

same station. The zero transfer

counselling was conducted on 20.10.2021

and all total BRTEs were transferred by

the Department.

13. Further, the learned Additional

Advocate General contended that the

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W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022

District Educational Officers working

more than two years in a particular

educational district were transferred to

other stations on 12.10.2021 by the

Department. Similarly, the P.A. to CEO

(Higher Secondary HM Cadre) and P.A. to

CEO (High School HM Cadre) working in

the Chief Educational Offices for more

than three years were transferred and

posted as Higher Secondary School

Headmaster / High School Headmaster

respectively.

14. Further, it is contended by the

learned Additional Advocate General that

the impugned proceedings of the Joint

Director of School Education and the

consequential administrative transfer

proceedings of the Chief Educational

Officer are only continuation of the

above said process in order to revamp

the School Educational Department.

15. The learned Additional Advocate

General reiterated that as far as the

converted Deputy Inspector of Schools /

B.T.Assistant is concerned, primacy

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W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022

should be given to B.T.Assistant

vacancies. After conversion of Deputy

Inspectors of Schools to B.T.Assistants,

thereafter for the remaining vacancies

of B.T.Assistant, the General Transfer

counselling has to be conducted strictly

adhering the general transfer

counselling norms contemplated under

G.O.Ms.No.176, School Education

Department, dated 17.12.2021. No Deputy

Inspector of Schools can have a vested

right to remain the same post all along

the entire service.

16. It is further contended by the

learned Additional Advocate General that

the transfer of Deputy Inspectors of

Schools to B.T.Assistants in Schools

would not alter any of the service

conditions of the petitioners. Since

these two posts are equivalent cadre

with equal scale of pay and

interchangeable, they are included in

the panel for promotion as

P.G.Assistants and High School

Headmasters every year based on the date

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W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022

of regularization in the post of

B.T.Assistant only as per seniority.

They are not affected anyway and hence,

there is no injustice caused to them and

hence, prayed for dismissal of the writ

petitions.

17. The learned Additional Advocate

General, in support of his contentions,

placed reliance upon the

17.1. Decision of the Honourable Supreme

Court in the case of State of U.P. and

others vs. Gobardhan Lal, reported in

(2004) 11 SCC 402, wherein, in Paragraph

No.7, the Apex Court has observed as

follows:

“7.It is too late in the day for any

Government Servant to contend that

once appointed or posted in a

particular place or position, he

should continue in such place or

position as long as he desires.

Transfer of an employee is not only

an incident inherent in the terms of

appointment but also implicit as an

essential condition of service in

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W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022

the absence of any specific

indication to the contra, in the law

governing or conditions of service.

                                  Unless     the       order     of       transfer          is

                                  shown    to    be    an     outcome          of    a   mala

fide exercise of power or violative

of any statutory provision (an Act

or Rule) or passed by an authority

not competent to do so, an order of

transfer cannot lightly be

interfered with as a matter of

course or routine for any or every

type of grievance sought to be made.

Even administrative guidelines for

regulating transfers or containing

transfer policies at best may afford

an opportunity to the officer or

servant concerned to approach their

higher authorities for redress but

cannot have the consequence of

depriving or denying the competent

authority to transfer a particular

officer/servant to any place in

public interest and as is found

necessitated by exigencies of

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W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022

service as long as the official

status is not affected adversely and

there is no infraction of any career

prospects such as seniority, scale

of pay and secured emoluments. This

Court has often reiterated that the

order of transfer made even in

transgression of administrative

guidelines cannot also be interfered

with, as they do not confer any

legally enforceable rights, unless,

as noticed supra, shown to be

vitiated by mala fides or is made in

violation of any statutory

provision.”

17.2. Decision of the Honourable Supreme

Court in the case of B.Varadha Rao vs.

State of Karnataka and others, reported

in (1986) 4 SCC 131, wherein, in

Paragraph No.4, the Apex Court has

observed as follows:

“That a Government servant is liable

to be transferred to a similar post

in the same cadre is a normal feature

and incident of Government service

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W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022

and no Government servant can claim

to remain in a particular place or in

a particular post unless, of course,

his appointment itself is to a

specified, non-transferable post. As

the learned Judges rightly observe :

The norms enunciated by Government

for the guidance of its officers in

the matter of regulating transfers

are more in the nature of guidelines

to the officers who order transfers

in the exigencies of administration

than vesting of any immunity from

transfer in the Government servants.”

17.3. Decision of the Honourable Supreme

Court in the case of E.P.Royappa vs.

State of Tamil Nadu and another,

reported in 1974 AIR 555, wherein, the

Apex Court has held that transfer is

also an implied condition of service and

appointing authority has a vide

discretion in the matter.

17.4. Decision of the Honourable Supreme

Court in the case of Rajendra Singh and

others vs. State of Uttar Pradesh and

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W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022

others, reported in (2009) 15 SCC 178,

wherein, the Apex Court, has held as

follows:

“A government servant has no vested

right to remain posted at a place of

his choice nor can he insist that he

must be posted at one place or the

other. He is liable to be

transferred in the administrative

exigencies from one place to the

other. Transfer of an employee is

not only an incident inherent in the

terms of appointment, but alo

implicit as an essential condition of

service in the absence of any

specific indications to the contrary.

No government can function if the

government servant insists that once

appointed or posted in a particular

place or position, he should continue

in such place or position as long as

he desires.””

3.2 Learned Additional Advocate General has

specifically referred to Rule 11 of the Notification dated 30 January https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022

2020 to contend that, the impugned action was pure administrative

transfer and the State Authorities were well within the powers and

discretion to order transfer. It is further submitted that, those, who

were ordered to be transferred had put in substantial years of

service and therefore on that count also the transfer can not be said

to be arbitrary. The substance of the argument on behalf of the

State is that the impugned orders were transfer on administrative

ground and well within the domain of the State and it was done

without any pick and chose manner, therefore it was neither illegal

nor arbitrary and no service condition is affected in any manner. It is

further submitted that, the seniority of the petitioner as B.T

Assistants is also protected and therefore not only no prejudice is

caused in the pay scale, even in the seniority also no prejudice is

caused to the petitioners and therefore dismissal of writ petitions

can not be said to be erroneous in any manner and therefore no

interference be made by this Court. It is further submitted that

more than 1000 persons, who are working as B.T. Assistants are

eligible to work as Deputy Inspector of Schools and therefore those

who are sought to be posted vice the appellants in no way can be

said to be ineligible to hold that post. It is submitted that these

appeals be dismissed.

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W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022

4. Having heard learned Senior Advocates for the

respective parties and having considered the material on record this

Court finds as under:-

4.1 At the outset it is noted that, the following

contentions of learned Additional Advocate General are accepted.

4.2 This Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of

India would be very slow to interfere in any transfer matter.

4.3 The pay of the appellants is not changed to their

detriment by the impugned transfer.

4.4 So far justification of non-arbitrariness is

concerned, we accept the argument that the impugned action is not

in pick and chose manner and no appellant can be said to have been

disturbed in short span of the posting.

4.5 The case of the State is also accepted to the

effect that the persons who are sought to be posted vice the

appellants can not be said to be ineligible in any manner.

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W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022

5.1 The point at issue before this Court is only,

whether the impugned transfer of the appellants from the post of

Deputy Inspector of Schools to Graduate Teacher is simple transfer

on administrative ground or is beyond it, keeping in view the

statutory Rules, holding the field. In this regard, two sets of Rules

which are referred to by both the learned Senior Advocates need to

be kept in view.

5.2 The first set of Rule, which is earlier set of Rule,

finds place in Tamil Nadu Services Manual Volume III Subordinate

Services with specific reference to Section 48 - The Tamil Nadu

School Education Subordinate Service.

5.3.1 In the above set of Rules, the post of Deputy

Inspector of Schools and School Assistants are referred as under:-

“Class and Category

(1) Deputy Inspector of Schools and School Assistants

(2) Junior Deputy Inspector of Schools”

5.3.2 The above would show that Deputy Inspector of

Schools and School Assistants – both are treated as the same class

and category by the said set of Rules.

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W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022

5.4 The second set of Rules is the notification issued

by the Government of Tamil Nadu in Extraordinary Government

Gazette, School Education Department dated 30 January 2020, with

the head 'Special Rules for the Tamil Nadu Elementary Education

Subordinate Service'. Rule 2 thereof, reads as under:-

“Appointment. - (a) Appointment to the

several classes and categories of the

service shall be made as follows:-

                                        Class and Category           Method of Appointment
                           Class I      (1)                          (2)
                           Category 1   Deputy     Inspector       of By Transfer from category 2 of
                                        School                        class 1 or classed II,III,IV
                                                                      in the service
                           Category 2   Graduate           Teacher (i) by Direct recruitment; or
                                        (subjects)
                                                                     (ii) by Promotion       from   any
                                                                     other post; or
                                                                     (iii)    (a)    Recruitment   by
                                                                     transfer from the post of
                                                                     Superintendent      in    School
                                                                     Education Department in the
                                                                     Tamil      Nadu      Ministerial
                                                                     Service;
                                                                     (b)    if   no    candidate    is
                                                                     available for appointment by
                                                                     the     method     (ad)    above,
                                                                     recruitment by transfer from
                                                                     the post of Assistants in
                                                                     School Education Department in
                                                                     the   Tamil    Nadu   Ministerial
                                                                     Service;
                                                                     (c)If    no    candidate    is
                                                                     available for appointment by
                                                                     the methods (a) and (b) above,
                                                                     recruitment by transfer from
                                                                     the post of Junior Assistant
                                                                     in School Education Department
                                                                     in the Tamil Nadu Ministerial
                                                                     Service;
                                                                     (d)If    no     candidate   is
                                                                     available for appointment by
                                                                     the methods (i),(ii) and (iii)
                                                                     above, recruitment by transfer
                                                                     from any other service;

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5.5 Rule 11 of the said set of Rules which is heavily

relied by learned Additional Advocate General, reads as under:-

“11. Transfers and Postings.- (a) (i)

Transfers and postings of the personnel

in all classes of the service within the

revenue districts shall be made by the

Chief Educational Officer of the

concerned revenue districts.

(ii) Transfers and postings of the

peronnel in all classes of the service

within the educational districts shall

be made by the District Educational

Officer of the concerned educational

districts.

(b) Inter-Revenue District Transfer and

postings of all Officers in the service

shall be made by the Joint Director of

School Education (Personnel).”

5.6 Rule 8 of the said set of rules reads as under:-

“8. Tests.- No person shall be eligible

for appointment to the post of Deputy

Inspector of Schools unless he has

passed the following tests:-

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W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022

(i)Tamil Nadu School Education

Department Administrative Test - - Paper

I (Higher Secondary / Secondary /

Teacher Training and Special Schools)

(ii)Tamil Nadu School Education

Department Administrative Test – Paper –

II (Elementary / Middle and Special

Schools)

(iii)Account Test for Subordinate

Officer Part - I”

5.7 The conjoint consideration of the above takes this

Court to the first point to be decided, of these two sets of Rules,

which one holds the field. In this regard it needs to be noted that,

the very opening part of the notification dated 30 January 2020

reads as under:-

“In exercise of the powers conferred by

proviso to Article 309 of the

Constitution of India and of all other

powers hereunto enabling and in

supersession of the Special Rules for

Tamil Nadu Elementary Educational

Subordinate Service, contained in

Section 48A in volume III of the Tamil

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W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022

Nadu Services Manual, 2016 so far as

they relate to the posts now coming

under the School Education Department

and included in the present rules, the

Governor of Tamil Nadu hereby re-issue

the following Special Rules for the

Tamil Nadu Elementary Educational

Subordinate Service (Section 48A in

Volume- III of the Tamil Nadu Service

Manual,2016)”

(emphasis supplied)

5.8 The above makes two things clear. Firstly, the

notification dated 30 January 2020 is issued in exercise of powers

under proviso to Article 309 of Constitution of India and thus does

have statutory force. Secondly, it also defines that, the same is in

supersession of all earlier Rules and Regulations in that regard

including Section 48A, which is referred above as the earlier set of

Rules. The conjoint reading thereof would leave no room but to hold

that, of these two sets of rules, it is the subsequent set of rule

(Notification dated 30 January 2020) which holds the filed and it

should be the guiding factor for deciding the controversy at hand.

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6.1 Having held that, it is the notification dated 30

January 2020, which would be a guiding factor, still the argument of

learned Additional Advocate General is right to the extent that,

when the powers are administrative in nature, the court would be

very slow to exercise discretion to interfere in such matters. We

find that, though this contention is right, the notification dated 30

January 2020 can not be said to be administrative instruction but it

has binding force and since it is in exercise of powers under proviso

to Article 309 of the Constitution of India, the appellants are

statutorily entitled to take shelter under that notification, if any

breach thereof is pointed out. Keeping these parameters in view, we

have examined the action of the State.

6.2 The said notification defines appointment in

different categories. Category 1 is 'Deputy Inspector of Schools'.

'Graduate Teacher (subjects)' is treated as Category 2 in other

words altogether a different category than 'Deputy Inspector of

Schools'. If this is compared with the earlier superseded rules, both

these categories were treated under the same head.

6.3 The method of appointment in these different

categories is also defined statutorily. The same is quoted

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hereinabove in para : 5.4. That would show that, the appointment

on the post of Deputy Inspector of Schools, which is statutorily

defined as different category then the Graduate Teacher, is made by

'transfer' from Category 2 i.e., from amongst the persons working in

the category of Graduate Teachers. All persons who are working as

Graduate Teachers can not be appointed on Deputy Inspector of

Schools. For this purpose, Rule 8 comes in play, which is already

quoted above.

6.4 The above would lead to a situation that the

persons who are working as Deputy Inspector of Schools, at one

stage would have worked as Graduate Teachers because that is the

'source category' from which they are appointed as Deputy

Inspector of Schools but all Graduate Teachers can not be

transferred and appointed as Deputy Inspector of Schools because

the further statutory requirement is provided under Rule 8, quoted

above.

6.5 Thus, the reading of Rule 11 regarding Transfer

and Postings as sought to be pressed into service on behalf of the

State needs to be weighed vis-a-vis the mode of appointment

provided under Rule 2 read with Rule 8 and it takes to a situation

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that a Graduate Teacher who satisfies the condition under Rule 8

can be appointed as Deputy Inspector of Schools and since the

mode of appointment statutorily prescribed is by transfer, the word

'transfer' is used at the time of said appointment. The appointment

of Graduate Teachers therefore on the post of Deputy Inspector of

Schools, according to us, is the appointment as statutorily

prescribed and the word 'transfer' used at that time is to be

understood as the mode of appointment and not administrative

transfer.

6.6 Having held as above, we find that, when a

Deputy Inspector of Schools is attempted to be brought back as

Graduate Teacher, it needs to be examined what is the mode of

appointment provided for Graduate Teacher. As it is noted above,

appointment of Deputy Inspector of Schools is statutorily prescribed

by transfer, but the same is consciously absent in the mode of

appointment of Graduate Teacher. Therefore what is statutorily not

permitted, or in other words, what was interchangeable in the

earlier set of Rules is consciously deleted in the subsequent

statutory set of Rules, can not be read as administrative power of

the State. Though the Court would be very slow to interfere in the

administrative actions of the State, when it is pointed out that the

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said action is governed by statutory rule, in absence of that power,

the impugned action of the State, according to us, was without any

authority of law and was inconsistent with the notification dated 30

January 2020.

7.1 Having found as above, we have examined the

reasons recorded in the order under challenge. We find that, learned

Single Judge in para : 23 observed as under:-

“23. Let us now compare the current

Special Rules with the old Rules issued

vide G.O.Ms.No.753, Education

Department, dated 15.07.1985. As per

the old Rules also, the appointment to

the posts of Deputy Inspectors of

Schools and School Assistants may be

made by transfer from any Class or

Category in the service on an identical

scale of pay. Thus, it is made clear

that the word 'transfer' indicates that

it can be effected from the equivalent

categories, which all are

interchangeable carrying identical scale

of pay. .... .”

https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022

7.2 In para : 31, it is noted as under:-

“31. What is to be considered by this

Court is ... Therefore, the new Rule

cannot be interpreted as if the post of

Deputy Inspector of Schools is a

distinct category and ....”

7.3 The reasoning of learned Single Judge in

substance [vide para : 33] is to the effect that - “if the Rule

contemplates by transfer then it is to be made only by way of

transfer and the word 'transfer' indicates that the post of Deputy

Inspector of Schools and Graduate Teachers are interchangeable as

it is identical scale of pay.” This according to us, is erroneous

reading of the notification dated 30 January 2020. We further find

that, learned Single Judge was also swayed away by reasoning [vide

para :33] that “thus routine transfers between the post of Deputy

Inspector of Schools and Graduate Teachers are contemplated under

the special-rules and thus there is no infirmity in the circular issued

by the Joint Director”. We find that, learned Single Judge, with great

respect, fell in error in reading in the set of Rules, what is not

written.

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W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022

8. On conjoint consideration of the above, we find

that, the action of the State was inconsistent with the provisions of

the notification and the learned Single Judge, while rejecting the

claim of the petitioners fell in error, which according to us, is error

apparent on the face of record and the same needs to be corrected

in these intra-court appeals, under Clause 15 of Letters Patent.

While doing so, we further hold that the State is well within its right

to transfer the appellants to any place as per administrative

requirement, but on the post of Deputy Inspector of Schools, which

is distinct category under statutory Rules and which they are

holding statutorily.

9.1 For the above reasons, the following order is

passed:-

                                  9.2       These appeals are allowed.



                                  9.3       The impugned order of learned Single Judge is

                     quashed and set aside.



                                  9.4       The writ petitions are allowed and the impugned

orders in writ petitions i.e. the general directions contained in order

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W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022

dated 06 January 2022 and consequential individual orders dated 07

January 2022 are quashed and set aside. It is noted that, by the

interim order on the writ petitions, those orders were already kept

in abeyance and have not been implemented at any point of time. It

is those orders which are set aside by this order.

9.5 No costs. Consequently, connected miscellaneous

petitions would not survive.

                                                               [P.U., J]         [K.R., J]
                                                                        25.03.2022
                     Index  : Yes
                     ssm/10


                     To

1.The Commissioner of School Education, O/o. Commissioner of School Education, Nungambakkam, Chennai.

2.The Joint Director of School Education (Personnel), O/o. The Joint Director of School Education, Chennai – 600 006.

3.The Chief Educational Officer, Dindigul District, Dindigul.

4.The Chief Educational Officer, Theni District, Theni.

https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022

5.The Chief Educational Officer, Madurai District, Madurai.

6.The Chief Educational Officer, Kanyakumari District, Kanyakumari.

7.The Chief Educational Officer, Ramanathapuram District, Ramanathapuram.

8.The Chief Educational Officer, Karur District, Karur.

9.The District Educational Officer, O/o. District Educational Office, Karur Taluk, Karur District.

https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022

PARESH UPADHYAY, J.

and KRISHNAN RAMASAMY, J.

ssm

W.A(MD)Nos. 254 and 255 of 2022

25.03.2022

https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

 
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