IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CWJC No.10964 of 1997 1. Smt. Meera Dutta, W/o Sri S.K. Palit, Resident of Mohalla Mithapur „B‟ Area, Patna, P.S. Jakkanpur, District Patna. 2. Smt. Ila Chatterjee, W/o Sri Pasupati Chatterjee, Resident of Mohalla Mithapur „B‟ Area, Patna, P.S. Jakkanpur, District Patna. 3. Smt. Sita Pal, W/o Sri Subodh Kumar Das, Mohalla Samanpura Raja Bazar, P.S. Shastrinagar, District Patna. 4. Mita Haldhar (Manan), D/o Sri Badal Manan, Resident of Mohalla Mithapur „B‟ Area, P.S. Jakkanpur, District Patna. 5. Mala Sudan, D/o Sri Pratap Singh Sudan, Mohalla Kankarbagh, Near Bus Stand, P.S. Kankarbagh, District Patna. 6. Smt. Premlata Kumari, W/o late Krishna Prasad, Resident of Mohalla Gardanibagh Bau Bazar, P.S. Gardanibagh, District Patna. 7. Alka Banerjee Roy, D/o Sri Ashutosh Roy Karamkar, Resident of Mohalla Old Jakkanpur, P.S. Jakkanpur, Distt. Patna. ---------- Petitioners Versus 1. The State of Bihar through the Education Commissioner-cum- Secretary, Human Resources Development Department, Govt. of Bihar, New Secretariat, Patna. 2. The Director, Primary Education, Govt. of Bihar, New Secretariat, Patna. 3. The District Superintendent of Education, Patna. 4. The Headmaster, Model St. Xavier‟s Junior School, Jakkanpur, Patna-1. 5. The Secretary, Model St. Xavier Junior School, Jakkanpur, Patna-1. -------- Respondents ----------- 4 12.08.2010 No one appears on behalf of the petitioners. Counsel for the State is present. The prayer of the petitioners in this writ application reads as follows:- “1(a) The respondents be directed to pay the salary and allowances in revised scale of pay of Matric 2 Trained Scale vide G.O. No. 7/76- 0/9/72 Edn. 3406 dated 4.6.73 with effect from 1.1.71 to the petitioner number 1 to 2 (3rd revised of the pay scale). (b) The respondents also be directed to pay the arrear, salary and allowances in revised scale of pay vide G.O. order no. 3406 dated 4.6.73, in the scale of Matric trained scale to the petitioner no.3 to 7 with effect from the date of joining the post of teacher (According to 3rd revised pay scale). (c) The respondent also be directed to pay the arrear, salary and allowances in revised scale of pay of Matric trained scale vide Govt. Order no. 3PRC3/81F 10770 dated 30.12.81 according to scale of pay w.e.f. 1.4.1981 (according to 4th pay revised pay scale). (d) The respondents also be directed to pay the arrear, salary and allowances in the revised scale of pay of Matric trained vide G.O. no.3/PAR01-3/89-6022/F(2) dated 18.12.89 with effect from 1.1.86 (according to 5th revised of the scale of pay). (e) The respondents be directed to pay the interest of pay and allowances @ 18% per annum as penal interest.” From reading of the writ 3 application, it would become clear that the petitioners are teachers working in Model St. Xavier‟s Junior School, Jakkanpur, which is recognized by the State Government with effect from 1.1.1961. The petitioners claim payment of salary on the ground that the said school is a minority institution and the Government has undertaken the liability of making payment of salary of teaching and non- teaching staff of such minority school within the sanctioned Staffing Pattern. From the counter affidavit filed in this case, it would appear that the District Superintendent of Education on enquiry has found that only two teachers, namely, Smt. Gopa Sen Gupta and Smt. Usha Devi of this school were entitled for receiving grant-in- aid from the fund of the State Government. It has further been claimed that the Government is only bound to pay grant-in-aid to such teachers of minority school/aided school whose services have been approved within the sanctioned post of the Staffing Pattern by the order of the District Superintendent of Education. But, in the present case, the 4 appointment of the petitioners has not been approved by any authority of the Education Department. Though this writ application was filed in the year 1997, the position in law as on date is slightly different, inasmuch as, there has been subsequent amendment in the Constitution by making a provision under Article 21(A) providing compulsory education to the children below fifteen years of age. If the school is imparting education and is a recognized minority school in which the Government also in part has been giving grant-in-aid at least to two teachers, it may have to now give reconsideration to the whole concept of grant of aid in the light of the constitutional amendment made in the Article 21(A) of the Constitution. The petitioners also claim that their representation submitted to the authority for payment of salary have remained pending and in fact their grievance seems to be that the issue was not referred by District Superintendent of Education to the Head of the Department, namely, Director, 5 Primary Education. In such a situation, specially when the counsel for the petitioners is not present and there is some semblance of a right of the petitioners to get their case considered by the authority, this Court would dispose of this writ application by giving liberty to the petitioners to approach the Director, Primary Education by filing a fresh individual representation along with a copy of this order and in the event such representations are filed, the Director, Primary Education shall pass his orders strictly in accordance with law within a period of six months from the date of filing of their representations. It is, however, made clear that any decision taken by the State will only have a prospective operation and would not entail any claim for payment of arrears of salary in view of the fact that till date, the State has not approved the appointment of the petitioners nor has accepted the liability for payment of their salary. Let it be also made clear that this 6 Court has not decided the claim of the petitioners on merit and has simply remitted the matter back to the Director, Primary Education for his independent decision. With the aforementioned observation, direction and liberty, this application is disposed of. Rsh (Mihir Kumar Jha, J.)