IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) TUESDAY, THE SIXTEENTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE GHULAM MOHAMMED And THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE G.BHAVANI PRASAD WRIT PETITION No.14226 of 2005 Between: Commissioner & Director of School Education, A.P. Hyderabad, District Educational Officer, Guntur. ..... PETITIONER AND G. Giri Babu, D.No. 20-1-43, Ramalingeswarapet, Lakshmi Narayana Street, Tenali - 522 201, Guntur District. .....RESPONDENT Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Aﬃdavit ﬁled herein the High Court will be pleased to issue a writ of Certiorari or any other appropriate writ, order or direction, after calling for the records relating to and connected with the Judgment of Hon'ble A.P.A.T., Hyderabad dated 16-2-2005 in O.A.No.1269/2004 and quash or set aside the same as illegal, arbitrary and contrary to law. Counsel for the Petitioner: GP FOR SERVICES I Counsel for the Respondent: MR.M.PITCHAIAH The Court made the following: ORDER: (Per Hon’ble Sri Justice Ghulam Mohammed) This writ petition is ﬁled seeking Certiorari to quash the order dated 16-2-2005 passed in O.A.No.1269 of 2004 on the ﬁle of the Andhra Pradesh Administrative Tribunal (for short ‘the Tribunal’). The respondent is the applicant and the writ petitioners are the respondents before the Tribunal and the status of the parties will be referred to as arrayed before the Tribunal for the sake of convenience. The facts of the case, in nutshell, are that the applicant, who possessed M.A. (English), M.A. Phil and B.Ed along with Post Graduate Diploma in English Language Teaching (P.G.D.T.E.) from Central Institute of English and Foreign Language (C.I.E.F.L.), Hyderabad, applied for the post of School Assistant (English) in response to the notiﬁcation dated 13-11-2003 issued by the ﬁrst respondent for ﬁlling up various categories of teachers including School Assistant (English) by specifying prescribed qualiﬁcations relating thereto. His application was rejected on the ground that he has not possessed the requisite qualiﬁcation as speciﬁed in the notiﬁcation for School Assistant (English). Challenging the said action, he ﬁled O.A.No.1269 of 2004 before the Tribunal and the Tribunal, while admitting the O.A., passed an interim order on 25.2.2004 directing the respondents to receive his application if he is otherwise eligible for appointment for the said post. The respondents were also directed that his result should not be declared. Eventually, the said O.A. was disposed of directing the respondents to consider his case as he is qualiﬁed to hold the post of School Assistant (English) on the ground that he possessed M.A. in English, PGDTE from CIEFL, M.Phil and B.Ed Special English, which are equivalent to the qualiﬁcation prescribed for the post of School Assistant (English) and declare his result. Aggrieved by the same, the present writ petition has been filed. Heard the learned Government Pleader for Services-I and the learned counsel for the respondent. Learned Government Pleader for Services-I contended that the requisite qualiﬁcation for the post of School Assistant (English) is Bachelors Degree with English as main subject or one of the three optional subjects and also B.Ed with English as Methodology. He also contended that the qualiﬁcation acquired by the applicant is not equivalent to that of regular B.Ed and the same is relevant to teach Special English, which is intended to teach for students of hearing impairing and mentally retarded persons. As the applicant did not possess the required qualiﬁcation for School Assistant (English), his case could not be considered. On the contrary, the learned counsel for the ﬁrst respondent contended that even though he possessed Post Graduate Diploma in English Language in Teaching in CIEFL, which is considered to be equivalent to that of B.Ed. (English), he is eligible for School Assistant (English) in view of the circular Rc.No.3582/C3-1/2003, dated 6-6-2003 issued by the Commissioner and Director of School Education. He also contended that one Samuel, who is similarly situated person possessing the similar qualiﬁcation as that of the applicant, was considered and selected for School Assistant in DSC-2003. To that eﬀect, he produced copies of selected list for the post of School Assistant in DSC 2003 as well as the order of the Tribunal in O.A.Nos.1472 of 2004 and batch ﬁled by Samuel and other persons. Having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case and the submissions of the learned counsel for both sides, the point that arises for consideration is as to whether the qualiﬁcation possessed by the applicant i.e., P.G.D.E.L.T (Post Graduate Diploma in English) is equivalent to that of the requisite qualiﬁcation as contemplated under the notification. In this regard, the circular issued by the Commissioner and Director of School Education, Hyderabad, is relevant for consideration. The said circular stipulates that the persons, who have passed P.G.D.E.L.T. (Post Graduate Diploma in English Language Teaching) oﬀered by Osmania University, Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages (CIEFL), Hyderabad and Regional Institute of Education (RIE), Bangalore for promotion to the post of School Assistant (English), subject to the condition that they should also pass B.Ed. (English Methodology) within one year to have uniformity in the qualiﬁcation, are eligible for the post of School Assistant (English). It is also to be noted that one Samuel, who is similarly situated person possessing similar qualiﬁcation, earlier ﬁled O.A.1757 of 2004 along with other persons aggrieved by the action of the respondents in not considering their applications for the post of School Assistant (English) and the said O.A. was disposed of along with batch of O.As directing the respondents to consider their claim for appointment to the post of School Assistant (English) in view of the decision taken by the Commissioner and Director of School Education in the year 2003 in the matter of appointment to the said post. Therefore, taking into account the circular issued by the Commissioner and Director of School Education and the order of the Tribunal dated 15-6-2006 passed in O.A.Nos.1472 of 2004 and batch, which has become ﬁnal in the absence of any challenge against that order and in view of the fact that one Samuel with the qualiﬁcation of M.A. English along with P.G.D.T.E. was considered and selected for the post of School Assistant (English) in DSC 2003, we feel that in case the case of the applicant were not considered, it would amount to the discrimination and the violation of principles of natural justice. Therefore, there is no other go except to extend the beneﬁt, that has been extended in a similarly situated person, in favour of the applicant. In this view of the matter, we have no hesitation to hold that the Tribunal is justiﬁed in passing the order impugned, which does not warrant any interference by this Court. This writ petition is devoid of merits and consequently, the same is liable to be dismissed. In the circumstances, the writ petition is dismissed. No order as to costs. _____________________ GHULAM MOHAMMED, J _____________________ G. BHAVANI PRASAD, J Date: 16-9-2008. Ksn ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1.2CCs to 2.2CD copies Form-NIC-OGS/WP{RLD}