Manish Kumar vs The State Of Bihar & Ors.

Mr. Shashi Bhushan Kumar, learned Advocate for the petitioner and Mr. Sudhanshu Bhushan, learned Advocate for the State.

The grievance of the petitioner lies within a narrow compass to the extent of the refusal of the respondent authorities to accept his joining at Government Middle School, Samsipur Diyara, Begusarai, by the Headmaster of the said school.

The short facts which led to the filing of the present writ petition, as culled out from the record, are that the petitioner was appointed as a Nagar Panchayat Teacher under Marhaura through Memo No. 279 dated 31.05.2012. Subsequent thereto, he cleared his evaluation examination and completed Diploma in Elementary Education training. On certain irregularities being found in the process of selection, the matter travelled to the State Appellate Authority, which cancelled the entire selection vide order dated 05.09.2018. The aforesaid order was challenged in CWJC No. 19764 of 2018 by the petitioner along with others, and the same is sub judice before this Court.

In the meanwhile, the Bihar Public Service Commission (hereinafter referred to as the “Commission”) published Advertisement No. 22/2024, inviting applications from eligible candidates for appointment to the post of school teachers for different classes. The petitioner, having the requisite qualifications for appointment as a school teacher (Class I to V), applied with all the testimonials/educational certificates. After scrutiny of the application by the Commission, an admit card was accordingly issued, and the petitioner appeared in the examination. The result for the post of school teacher in Primary School (Classes I–V) was published, in which the name of the petitioner was shown as a successful candidate under the unreserved category. Seemingly, the Commission allotted districts to all the successful candidates, and the petitioner was allotted Begusarai district.

The petitioner was called upon to participate in the counselling, and after verification of the certificates, the respondent District Education Officer, Begusarai, vide letter dated 09.03.2025, issued a provisional appointment letter. Vide Annexure P/10 dated 10.05.2025, the petitioner was posted at Government Middle School, Samsipur Diyara. In compliance with the letter of posting, the petitioner submitted his joining before the Headmaster of the concerned school; however, the same was refused. Aggrieved by the action of the Headmaster, the petitioner brought the entire facts to the notice of the District Education Officer and the District Programme Officer (Establishment); however, to no avail, hence the present writ petition.

A counter affidavit has been filed on behalf of respondent nos. 6 and 7. It is submitted, with categorical averments, that since the petitioner had failed to submit his resignation letter/certificate from his previous employment as a Panchayat Teacher as well as the No Objection Certificate to the concerned Headmaster of Middle School, Samsipur Diyara, his joining could not be accepted. It has further been submitted that the joining of the petitioner was subject to the submission of the resignation letter from his previous employment unit in terms of the order issued by the concerned authorities, and since the same has not been complied with, there is no illegality in the action of the concerned Headmaster.

It is further contended that the petitioner, along with others, was duly appointed in the year 2012 and that, subsequently, upon irregularities being found in their selection, their appointments were cancelled by the employment unit, which was challenged before the District Teachers Appellate Authority, which was pleased to set aside the order of cancellation.

On challenge to the order passed by the District Teachers Appellate Authority, the State Appellate Authority set aside the order of the District Teachers Appellate Authority and affirmed the cancellation of the appointment of the petitioner, along with others, in Appeal No. 156/2017 and Appeal No. 157/2017. Since the matter is sub judice before this Court in CWJC No. 19764 of 2018, the relief sought for in the writ petition is not fit to be entertained, is the contention of the learned Advocate for the State.

After careful consideration of the submissions advanced by learned Advocate for the respective parties, this Court finds that the petitioner has independently participated in the selection process duly commenced under Advertisement No. 22/2024 and upon being found successful after passing the examination duly conducted by the Commission; letter of posting has been issued in his favour. Indubitably the petitioner’s selection through open competition, via the BPSC, is a fresh recruitment open to all eligible candidate, the demand of “Resignation Certificate” and/or “No Objection Certificate” in all the cases, would certainly infringe the constitutional gurantee envisaged under Article 16 of the Constitution of India. Since the dispute with regard to the previous employment is quite distinct from the new selection process, this Court doesn't find any impediment in accepting the joining of the petitioner once there is no other impediment coming in the way in relation to new selection process pertaining to Advertisement No. 22/2024, affecting the petitioner’s bona fide entitlement to hold the post.

It is also to be noted that for appointment to the post of School Teacher for Elementary School (Class I to V) under Advertisement No. 22/2024, the requisite eligibility criteria as prescribed was; a candidate must be; (i) Indian Citizen, (ii) Training Certificate and (iii) CTET/BTET Examination qualified. Further, in case of earlier appointed local bodies teachers he/she must have passed Teacher Evaluation Test. It is not the case of the respondent that the petitioner does not have the eligibility to be appointed rather he has been declared successful and provisional appointment letter and posting order was issued in his favour. The non acceptance of joining of the petitioner is only on account of failure on the part of the petitioner, that he could not produce the resignation certificate and/or No Objection Certificate, which in the opinion of this Court, does not cause any adverse impact to his eligibility.

In view thereof, this Court directs the District Education Officer, Begusarai, to look into the matter in the light of the aforesaid observation and take a fresh decision pertaining to joining of the petitioner in the school allotted to him, preferably within a period of eight weeks from the date of receipt/production of a copy of this order.

The writ petition stands disposed of.