IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.3210 of 2007 Shrikant Sharma, son of Awadhesh Sharma, resident of village Pitwansh, P.S. Nabatpur and District Patna … Petitioner Versus 1. The State Of Bihar through the Secretary, Secondary Education, Bihar, Patna 2. The Director, Secondary Education, Bihar, Patna 3. The Regional Deputy Director of Education, Patna Division, Bihar, Patna … Respondents ---------------------------------- 3. 17.8.2011 Heard counsel for the petitioner and the counsel for the State. The prayer of the petitioner in this writ application reads as follows: “That this application is being filed for issuance of an appropriate writ/ writs direction/ directions to the respondents to grant promotion on the post of Headmaster and consequential benefit in accordance with law after reckoning the seniority from the date of his initial appointment i.e. 24.1.1970 as the junior to the petitioner has already been granted promotion.” Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that since the petitioner was earlier appointed as an Assistant Teacher in High School, Umata, Dharnai in the district of Gaya on 21.1.1970 and had remained continuously in service upto 14.10.1973 before being appointed on the post of teacher in High School, Amarpura, in the district of Patna where he had joined on 15.10.1973, the petitioner’s seniority as reflected in the gradation list issued in the year 2006 should have been acted upon for grant of his promotion 2 on the post of Headmaster. Counsel in this regard has also laid stress that such seniority of the petitioner was already acted upon by giving benefit of the first time bound promotion and counting his services from 21.1.1970. In nut shell learned counsel for the petitioner has laid emphasis that the seniority of the petitioner should be from the first date of his appointment i.e. 21.1.1970. In this regard reliance has also been placed by the learned counsel for the petitioner on an unreported judgment dated 1.5.1995 in C.W.J.C.No. 3633/1994 (Yogendar Raut vs. State of Bihar & ors.). Learned counsel for the State, on the other hand, with the help of the counter affidavit would submit that the issue of seniority of the petitioner was specifically addressed to in the meeting of the Departmental Promotion Committee held on 8.5.2007 wherein while considering the case of the petitioner it was found that his initial appointment made in a private school by the Managing Committee on 21.1.1970 could not have been tagged with the appointment made in a another school on 15.10.1973 especially when such appointment was made by way of a fresh appointment on stipend against the post of Science Teacher under Special Employment Scheme. He has, accordingly, submitted that the seniority of the teachers on coming into force of Seva Sarta Niyamawali, 1983 had to be reckoned on the basis of services rendered in a particular school, inasmuch as all the schools were unit till 2.10.1980. Counsel for the State, however, has fairly submitted that in view of the subsequent Government 3 decision dated 11.1.2008 the petitioner’s seniority will have to be reckoned from the first date on which he was appointed on stipend i.e. 15.10.1973, inasmuch as the Government has taken such a decision to treat the said appointment on a stipend as a regular appointment. Counsel for the State, therefore, submits that the seniority position as determined by the Departmental Promotion Committee in the meeting held on 8.5.2007 will have to be reconsidered in the light of the Government decision dated 11.1.2008. In the considered opinion of this Court even though the petitioner will not be entitled to reckon his seniority from the date of initial appointment in a private High School, inasmuch as the said school was not only in Gaya District having a different divisional cadre even in terms of 1983 Rules but also on account of the fact that tagging up of services of two schools could have been permissible only if there was a Rule to this effect. In absence of any Rule the issue of seniority will have to be always decided as per Seva Sarta Niyamawali, 1983 and/or the amendments made therein and therefore, the petitioner can count his seniority only from the date he was appointed as a teacher on stipend in High School, Amarpura in the district of Patna i.e. 15.10.1973. The reliance placed on the judgment of this Court in the case of Yogendar Raut (supra) in fact would also not improve the case of the petitioner in any manner inasmuch as the same also lays down of counting the period of a Science Teacher appointed 4 under the Special Employment Scheme on stipend. Thus in the facts of this case, no additional benefit in the matter of fixation of seniority can be drawn by the petitioner on the basis of law laid down by this Court in the case of Yogendar Raut (supra). Infact in the case of Yogendar Raut there was no question of tagging up the seniority of two separate schools and the issue was confined only to counting the period of services rendered on stipend which has been in fact also allowed subsequently by the respondents by issuing the circular dated 11.1.2008. Thus, the claim of seniority of the petitioner for its being reckoned with effect from 24.1.1970 cannot be upheld by this Court but at the same time the decision of the respondents of counting the services of the petitioner for the purposes of his seniority with effect from 15.10.1974, in the light of the discussions made above also cannot be approved. The petitioner in fact both in view of law laid down in the case of Yogendar Raut (supra) as also the Government circular dated 11.1.2008 would be entitled for reckoning his seniority with effect from 15.10.1973. The Director, Secondary Education, is accordingly directed to re-determine the seniority of the petitioner in the cadre of Assistant Teacher by counting his services with effect from 15.10.1973 and if on that basis it is found that during continuation of the petitioner in service and before his retirement any person junior to the petitioner was given promotion on the post of Headmaster, the petitioner’s promotion shall also be notified so 5 that he may draw the arrears of salary as also benefit of revised pension and other retirement benefit in the pay scale of the post of Headmaster. If, on the other hand, it is found that even as per re- determined seniority of the petitioner he would not have qualified for promotion till the date of his retirement, the Director, Secondary Education, after getting the matter placed before the Departmental Promotion Committee shall take an appropriate decision and communicate result thereof to the petitioner. The whole exercise however should be completed within a period of six months. In order to expedite this exercise this Court would also give liberty to the petitioner to file a self contained representation enclosing a copy of this order and the period of six months shall be reckoned from the date of filing of such representation by the petitioner. With the aforementioned observation and direction, this application is disposed of. (Mihir Kumar Jha,J.) Surendra/