1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY APPELLATE SIDE LETTERS PATENT APPEAL NO.277 OF 2009 IN WRIT PETITION NO.3196 OF 2006 1. The President/Secretary, Arya Hindi Pracharini Sabha, Rajendra Pal Mangala Hindi High School, Thane (E). 2. The H.M., Rajendra Pal Mangala Hindi High School, Nardas Nagar, Tembipada, Thane (E). .... Appellants - Versus - 1. Poonam Rajendraprasad Singh, Adult, Occ: Service, R/at Ashtabhuji Bhavan, Sahyadri Park, Katemanivali, Kalyan(E), Thane. 2. The Education Officer, Thane Municipal School Board, Thane. 3. The State of Maharashtra .... Respondents Shri A.G. Kothari for the Appellants. Shri Sunil D. Dighe for Respondent No.1. Shri R.S. Apte for Respondent No.2. 2 Shri R.M. Patane, AGP, for Respondent No.3-State. CORAM: J.N. PATEL, ACTING C.J. & B.R. GAVAI, J. DATED: JANUARY 08, 2010 ORAL JUDGMENT (Per B.R. Gavai, J.): 1. Shri Sunil Dighe appears for respondent No.1, Shri R.S. Apte for respondent No.2 and Shri R.M. Patane, learned AGP, for respondent No.3. As such, the service is complete. 2. By consent, we have taken up this appeal for hearing. By way of the present appeal the appellants take exception to the order dated 19-6-2009, passed by a learned single Judge of this Court in Writ Petition No. 3196 of 2006. The services of respondent No.1 herein, who is the employee of the appellants, were terminated. Being aggrieved by the order of termination, respondent No.1 preferred an appeal before the learned School Tribunal. The learned School Tribunal allowed the appeal; set aside the order of termination and directed the reinstatement of respondent No.1 herein with 3 all the consequential benefits including back wages. 3. Being aggrieved by the order passed by the learned School Tribunal, the appellants herein filed a writ petition in this Court, which came to be dismissed by the learned single Judge by his order dated 19-6-2009. Being aggrieved by the dismissal of the petition, the present appeal is filed. 4. Shri Kothari, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the appellants, submits that the only issue raised in the present appeal is in relation to direction to pay back wages. He submits that though the respondent- employee had not made out a case for grant of back wages, the learned School Tribunal has erred in awarding back wages and so also the learned single Judge has erred in confirming the order directing the payment of back wages. In support of his submission, the learned counsel relies on a judgment of the Apex Court in the case of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan and another v. S.C. Sharma, reported in (2005) 2 SCC 363. 5. No doubt it is for the employee to 4 prima facie establish that he is entitled to an order of grant of back wages. It is, however, to be seen from the record placed before us that there is not even a whisper in the entire memo of the petition to show that the order passed by the learned School Tribunal awarding back wages was either erroneous or illegal. Neither a perusal of the grounds raised in the appeal reveal that such a ground was raised in the petition. From a perusal of the order impugned before us also it can be seen that it was not even argued before the learned single Judge that the order passed by the learned School Tribunal awarding back wages is either erroneous or illegal. 6. The scope of an appeal under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent is limited. It is not permissible for a party to raise a ground before us which was not raised before the learned single Judge. The appellants not having raised this ground, cannot be permitted to raise the ground for the first time in this appeal. 7. We, therefore, do not find any error or illegality in the order passed by the learned single Judge to warrant interference in 5 appellate jurisdiction. The appeal is, therefore, without merit and as such is dismissed. 8. At this stage, the learned counsel appearing for the appellants prays for extension of the interim order passed in the appeal. In the light of the view taken by us, we are not inclined to grant the prayer for extension of the interim relief. The prayer is rejected. Sd/- ACTING C.J. Sd/- B.R. GAVAI, J.