HIGH COURT OF UTTARAKHAND AT NAINITAL Writ Petition No. 991 of 2009 (S/S) Sujan Singh Butola …. Petitioner .. Versus State of Uttarakhand & others … Respondents Mr. Chetan Joshi, Advocate for the petitioner. Mr. N.P. Sah, Standing Counsel for the State of Uttarakhand/respondents. 16th November, 2009 Hon’ble Sudhanshu Dhulia, J. Heard Sri Chetan Joshi, Advocate for the petitioner as well as Sri N.P. Sah, Standing Counsel for the State of Uttarakhand/respondents. The petitioner is an Assistant Teacher in a Junior High School in district Chamoli, Uttarakhand. This writ petition has been filed by the petitioner with a prayer that a mandamus be issued to the education authorities in Uttarakhand to allocate the petitioner a school in district Rudraprayag and change his district from Chamoli to Rudraprayag. Apparently, the junior high school teacher is a district level post and the seniority of these teachers is also calculated as per their district. Till 1997, Rudraprayag was a part of district Chamoli and was carved out as a separate district only in the year 1997. The respondents in their counter affidavit has annexed Government Order of the year 1999 whereby after the new district was carved out options were invited from the teachers for Rudraprayag in case their home district has now become Rudraprayag. It is also an admitted case that the petitioner failed to exercise this option. Now after a lapse of ten years when the inter se seniority in each district has settled, giving 2 direction to the education authorities to adjust the petitioner to the new district of Rudraprayag would create more problems than the order would intend to solve in as much as it would unsettled the settled seniority of teachers in district Rudraprayag. Therefore, this relief cannot be granted to the petitioner by this Court. However, in case the State in its wisdom chooses to invite such options in future from teachers at Rudraprayag or vice versa from the teachers of Chamoli to give the option to other district, the petitioner would be entitled to exercise his option. With these observations, writ petition is dismissed. No order as to costs. (Sudhanshu Dhulia, J.) 16.11.2009 Avneet