Pawan Kumar vs State Of Himachal Pradesh

Sabina, J

Petitioner has filed the petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, seeking following relief(s):-

“i). To quash Annexure P-1 i.e. selection list for the post of Part Time Multi Task Worker in Government Primary School Chiral Minah, Educational Block Karsog-II at Churag, District Mandi, H.P. qua the respondent No.7.

ii) To cancel the joining and agreement of respondent No.7 which has been accepted and entered in between respondent No.6 and respondent No.7.

iii) To issue selection order of the petitioner in the counseling held by the selection committee, pursuance to whereof, the petitioner ought to have been selection in place of respondent No.7, as petitioner is 75% disabled in comparison to respondent No.7 who is 72% disable and further the petitioner is older in age then that of respondent No.7 as the petitioner is 36 years old and the respondent No.7 is 28 years old.

iv) The selection and appointment of respondent No.7 also deserved to be quashed on the ground that he has pucca lentil house as much more higher income than that of the petitioner.”

Learned counsel for the petitioner has submitted that now vide Addendum dated 25th August, 2022, Rule-19 has been added to the policy and as per the said rule, appeal can be filed before the Additional District Magistrate (ADM) of the district within 15 days of the selection/appointment. In the present case, selection/appointment of respondent No.7 was made on 16th July, 2022. Hence, the petitioner would not be able to avail the benefit of newly added Rule-19. Learned counsel has further submitted that the petitioner will approach the Additional District Magistrate (ADM), Mandi, District Mandi, by way of an appeal, within 15 days from today and the same should not be rejected by the competent authority on the ground that it is time barred as the Rule-19 has been incorporated on 25th August, 2022.

Rule-19, provided vide Addendum dated 25th August, 2022, reads as under:-

“ADDENDUM

In partial modification of this Department's Notification No. EDN-C-B(1)2/2019 dated 16th July, 2020 (as updated upto 11th March, 2022), the Governor, Himachal Pradesh is pleased to add "Rule-19 Appellate Authority" in the Part Time Multi Task Workers Policy, 2020 as under:

Appellate Authority:

The appeal in respect of complaints relating to PTMTW selection/appointment etc. should be made to the Additional District Magistrate (ADM) of the district within 15 days of the selection/appointment. The appeal will be considered by the Additional District Magistrate (ADM) of the district and disposed off within 30 days from its receipt with suitable directions. If the complainant is not satisfied with the outcome, then he/she may file an appeal with the Director of Higher/Elementary Education, as the case may be, within 15 days from the decision of the Additional District Magistrate (ADM). The appellate authority may dispose off the appeal within 60 days after hearing the appellant.

By Order

Devesh Kumar, IAS

Pr. Secretary (Education) to the

Government of Himachal Pradesh.”

Keeping in view the submissions made by learned counsel for the petitioner, we deem it appropriate to dispose of the writ petition by permitting the petitioner to approach Additional District Magistrate (ADM), Mandi, District Mandi, by way of an appeal, within 15 days from today and the said authority will dispose of the appeal in terms of Rule-19, provided vide Addendum dated 25th August, 2022.

It is clarified that the appeal filed by the petitioner would not be rejected on the ground of delay, but would be disposed of on merits.

Pending miscellaneous application(s), if any, also stand disposed of.