IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.10970 of 2008 Soni Kumari, D/O Sri Permanand Thakur, resident of village Nirpur, P.O. Ganpura, P.s. Noorsarai, District- Nalanda. …………… Petitioner Versus 1.The State Of Bihar through its Chief Secretary, Patna 2.The Secretary, Education, Govt. of Bihar, Patna 3.District Education Officer, Lakhisarai 4.The Panchayat Sachiv, Gram Panchayat, Budhouli- Bankar, District- Lakhisarai. …………… Respondents ---------------------------------- 2. 19/09/2011 Petitioner has filed this writ application for a direction to the respondents to release her salary of the post of Panchayat Teacher from January, 2008 onwards. Case of the petitioner is that her salary has been withheld on the ground that she had a degree of Upshastri from Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University, Darbhanga which was not a valid qualification for appointment as Panchayat Teacher. Learned counsel for the petitioner refers to a judgment in a batch of cases dated 24.3.2009, a copy whereof is annexed as Annexure-8/2 with the supplementary affidavit and submits that there was no bar in the Rules in consideration of application of candidates having such Upshastri degree. He submits that the Rules have been amended only in 2008 and 2 thereafter the bar has been imposed, which is evident from the said judgment of this Court itself. After going through the judgment, this Court finds that this Court has already held that prior to August, 2008, candidates having Upshastri degree were also eligible for consideration for appointment as Panchayat Teachers under the Rules. In the circumstances, if the petitioner’s salary has been withheld by the respondents only on the ground that she was having Upshastri degree, this Court directs the respondents to release the same within two months from the date of receipt/production of a copy of this order. However, in case, respondents find that the petitioner, for any other valid reason, is not entitled for salary, they shall issue notice to the petitioner to show cause in the matter and shall pass appropriate orders and communicate the same to the petitioner within that very period. Pradeep/ ( J. N. Singh,J.)