M.C. Junior College (H.S.) vs District Educational Officer and Others

Ramesh Madhav Bapat, J.—The petitioner herein is a Junior College represented by its Secretary and Correspondent. It is stated in the affidavit that there are total 19 teaching posts and 7 non-teaching posts which are admitted to grant-in-aid by the competent authority and that the said posts are manned by different individuals in the management. It is further averred by the petitioner that four vacancies i.e., one post each of Physical Education Teacher, Craft Teacher, Drawing Teacher and Waterman fell vacant on different dates and that all these posts were admitted to grant-in-aid. It is further averred by the petitioner that the management requested the first respondent to accord permission to fill up the above four vacancies. The first respondent by proceedings in Rc.No. 58/A9/97 dated 30-7-1998 accorded the permission to fill up the above four vacancies as per the roster points. The vacancy of Physical Education Teacher is reserved for S.C. woman; the vacancy of Craft Teacher is reserved for O.C. men; the vacancy of Drawing Teacher is reserved for O.C. men and the vacancy of Waterman is reserved for O.C. woman. In pursuance of the permission granted by the first respondent, the management notified the above four vacancies on 16-7-1998 to the District Employment Exchange, East Godavari District, Kakinada requesting them to sponsor eligible candidates. The Employment Exchange sent four lists to the management of the college. Apart from notifying the above vacancies, the management also issued notification in local newspapers; one in Telugu and the other one in English. In response to the notification, 29 applications were received besides the lists sent by the Employment Exchange. It is further averred by the petitioner that the first respondent issued another proceedings in Rc.No. 58/A9-97 dated 12-10-1998 wherein he constituted a Staff Selection Committee for conducting recruitment for the above posts. As per the instructions of the first respondent, the date of written and oral test was notified as 22-10-1998 and all the candidates appeared and some of them secured qualifying marks in the written examination. The management of the college issued call letters to the individuals in 1 : 3 ratio for all the above posts and after interviewing the candidates, the following candidates were selected for the four posts by the Staff Selection Committee:

(1) T. Mangalaxmi, Physical Education Teacher (SC women category)

(2) M. Jagdish Varma, Craft Teacher (O.C. men category)

(3) Ch. Venkateswara Rao, Drawing Teacher (O.C. men category)

(4) P. Vijayakumari, Water Woman (O.C. women category)

It is further stated by the petitioner that the first respondent conducted interview being the departmental nominee. The management submitted the proposals to the first respondent on 25-10-1998 requesting him to approve the Staff Selection Committee proceedings. The first respondent in turn sent the said proposals to the second respondent on 31-10-1998. It is further submitted that the management had followed the procedure prescribed in G.O.Ms. No. 1, Education Dept., dated 1-1-1994.

It is the further case of the petitioner that the second respondent issued proceedings in L.Dis. No. 227/A2/98 dated 2-12-1998 wherein he referred the Government Memo. No. 5S/491/415/SMPC/98 dated 5-8-1998 and returned the proposal to the first respondent and directed him to inform the management of the petitioner-College to obtain financial clearance from the Government and to resubmit the proposals for taking further action. Questioning the said Memo, the present writ petition is filed.

I have heard the learned Counsel for the petitioner and also the learned Government Pleader for School Education.

The learned Counsel for the petitioner submitted that the entire recruitment is governed by the rules framed in G.O.Ms. No. 1, dated 1-1-1994 and that G.O.Ms. No. 275, Finance and Planning Department dated 14-12-1995 and the Memo dated 5-8-1998 have no application insofar as the petitioner is concerned. It is further submitted by the learned Counsel that the above four vacancies occurred due to retirement and that they were already admitted to grant-in-aid and, therefore, there is no need again to obtain financial clearance from the Government.

In view of the above facts, this Court directs the first and second respondents to approve the selection made by the Staff Selection Committee for filling up the four vacancies in the posts of Physical Education Teacher, Craft Teacher, Drawing Teacher and Water Woman in the petitioner-College as per the rules within a period of two months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order and intimate the same to the petitioner.

With the above direction, the writ petition is disposed of. No costs.