Uttarakhand High Court
WPSS/526/2022 on 21 March, 2023
Office Notes,
reports, orders
SL. or proceedings
Date COURT'S OR JUDGES'S ORDERS
No or directions and
Registrar's order
with Signatures
WPSS 526/2022
With
WPSS 1637/2021
WPSS 1638/2021
WPSS 1639/2021
WPSS 1640/2021
WPSS 1641/2021
WPSS 1642/2021
WPSS 1643/2021
WPSS 1644/2021
WPSS 1645/2021
WPSS 1646/2021
WPSS 528/2022
WPSS 542/2022
WPSS 546/2022
Hon'ble Manoj Kumar Tiwari, J.
Mr. Rakesh Thapliyal, Senior
Advocate, assisted by Mr. Xitij Kaushik and
Mr. Ananya Thapliyal, Counsel for the
petitioners.
Mr. Pooran Singh Bisht, Additional
CSC, assisted by Mr. Narayan Datt, Brief
Holder for the State/respondents.
Since common questions of law and
fact are involved in these writ petitions,
therefore, these are being heard and
decided together, however, for the sake of
of 2022 alone are being considered.
Petitioners were initially appointed
on various teaching and non-teaching posts
in a recognized Junior High School, which
was not receiving any financial aid from the
State Government at the relevant point of
time. However, after several years of
petitioners' appointment, said institution
was included in the grant-in-aid list of the
State Government. Presently also,
petitioners are serving in government aided
Junior High Schools.
According to petitioners, they are
entitled to Selection Grade upon completion
of ten years of satisfactory service, which
has to be reckoned from the date of their
initial appointment in the recognised school.
The stand taken by the respondents,
however, is that such benefit would be
available to petitioners only after
completing ten years of satisfactory service
from the date when the institution, in
question, is included in grant-in-aid list of
the State Government. Thus, according to
respondents, the services rendered by
petitioners in the concerned school before it
received financial aid from the State
Government has to be ignored for the
purpose of grant of Selection Grade to
petitioners.
Mr. Rakesh Thapliyal, learned Senior
Counsel appearing for the petitioners,
submits that coordinate Bench of this Court,
vide judgment dated 27.3.2017 rendered in
WPSS No. 1955 of 2015 and other
connected petitions, had allowed similar writ
petitions filed by teachers serving in
recognised schools, which were
subsequently included in grant-in-aid list.
He further submits that Division Bench of
this Court affirmed the said judgment in
Special Appeal No. 279 of 2018 and other
connected appeals. Learned Senior Counsel
further drawn attention of this Court
towards the order passed by the Hon'ble
Supreme Court whereby the SLP filed by
State has been dismissed. Thus he submits
that present writ petitions deserve to be
decided in terms of the judgment dated
27.3.2017 rendered in WPSS No. 1955 of
2015 and other connected petitions.
Mr. Thapliyal also drawn attention of
this Court to a recent judgment dated
14.3.2023, passed by this Court in WPSS
No. 1277 of 2020. He submits that facts of
present case are identical to the one
involved in WPSS No. 1277 of 2020.
Mr. Pooran Singh Rawat, learned
Additional Chief Standing Counsel appearing
for the respondents, does not dispute the
submission made by learned Senior Counsel
appearing for the petitioners that similar
controversy has been decided by coordinate
Bench, which stood affirmed up to Hon'ble
Supreme Court.
In view of consensus between
learned Counsel for the parties that the
question involved in these writ petitions
stand covered by the judgment dated
27.3.2017 rendered in WPSS No. 1955 of
2015 and other connected petitions,
therefore, present writ petitions are also
decided in terms of the said judgment.
Director, Elementary Education, is
directed to sanction and release benefit of
time scale to petitioners from due date,
after taking into account their entire length
of service, within a period of eight weeks
from the date of production of certified copy
of this order.
(Manoj Kumar Tiwari, J.)
21.3.2023
Pr
