1 aswp-5062-11 pdp IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO. 5062 OF 2011 Satish Dattaram Gaonkar .. Petitioner Vs. The State of Maharashtra and ors. .. Respondents Mr. Imtiyaz Patel for petitioner. Mr. A.I. Patel, AGP for respondent nos.1 to 4. CORAM: B. H. MARLAPALLE & SMT. NISHITA MHATRE JJ. SEPTEMBER 06, 2011. P.C. 1. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner. 2. Rule. 3. Mr. Patel, the learned AGP, waives service for the respondent nos.1 to 4. The petitioner has been dismissed against the respondent nos.5 and 6 in view of the conditional order passed earlier. 2 aswp-5062-11 4. The petitioner is aggrieved by the communication dated 30/11/2010 issued by the respondent no.4 and addressed to the Headmaster of Shri Bhagwati Devi Secondary School at Ambrad, Taluka – Kudal, District – Sindhudurg. By the said communication, the proposal for granting approval to the appointment of the petitioner as an Assistant Teacher has been turned down. 5. The petitioner was initially appointed as Shikshan Sevak for a period of three years i.e. from 17/9/2007 to 16/9/2010 and the appointment was approved by the respondent no.4 vide his order dated 10/6/2008. On successful completion of the period of three years as Shikshan Sevak, he was absorbed as an Assistant Teacher and the management forwarded the proposal to respondent no.4 for his approval to the appointment of the petitioner. By the impugned order the proposal has been rejected, but without assigning any reasons whatsoever. 6. In the case of Ram Avadh Mahel Pal vs. Shivdutta Educational Trust and ors. [2007(6) Mh.L.J. 659], a Full Bench of this court held that as a result of the amendment of 2007 in the MEPS Act, 1977, every person 3 aswp-5062-11 appointed as Shikshan Sevak shall on successful completion of the period of three years, be deemed to have been appointed and confirmed as a teacher. Section 5 of the MEPS Act has been amended by the Maharashtra Act XIV of 2007 and the proviso below subsection (2) of the said Section states that every person appointed as Shikshan Sevak shall be on probation for a period of three years and as per the newly added section 2A subject to the provisions of subsections (3) and (4), Shikshan Sevak shall, on completion of the probation period of three years, be deemed to have been appointed and confirmed as a teacher. In view of this statutory provision, it was not permissible for the Education Officer to pass the impugned innocuous order and reject the proposal submitted for approval. 7. Hence, this petition must succeed and the same is hereby allowed. The impugned order dated 30/11/2010 is hereby quashed and set aside. Respondent No.4 is directed to process the proposal submitted by the Management for the approval of the petitioner’s appointment as per the Rules and decide the same within a period of six weeks from today. (SMT. NISHITA MHATRE J.) (B. H. MARLAPALLE, J.)