JUDGMENT : -

A.K. SIKRI, J.

Leave granted.

2) Dispute in this appeal pertains to the seniority of the appellant vis-a-vis respondent No.4. Both the appellant as well as respondent No.4 are working as teachers in Seth Gangadhar Makhriya High School, Mahabaleshwar, District Satara in Maharashtra. It is not in dispute that the appellant had joined the said school as Assistant Teacher before respondent No.4 and was senior to him in the post of Assistant Teacher. However, respondent No.4 had acquired B.Ed. degree prior to the appellant and on that basis he is treated senior to the appellant in the category of 'Trained Graduate Teachers'. Whether this consequence follows as a result of the rules is the matter of examination in the present case.

3) This question has arisen in the following circumstances:

The appellant joined the service with respondent No.3 School as Assistant Teacher on 24.08.1979, whereas respondent No.4 joined the same post in the same School on 01.09.1980. At the time of her joining, the appellant had not completed her graduation, though it is not in dispute that the appellant fulfilled the requisite qualifications for appointment as Assistant Teacher. She completed her BA in the year 1984. Thereafter, she did B.Ed. as well, with due permission of the School authorities, and passed the said course on 20.05.1986. To improve her academic record, the appellant even acquired the qualification of MA in the year 1997. On the other hand, the academic graph of respondent No.4 discloses that he was already BA when he joined the service as Assistant Teacher on 01.09.1980. He also did B.Ed. and completed that course on 01.11.1984 (that is, before the appellant, who had acquired the same qualification on 20.05.1986).

4) A seniority list was circulated by the School authorities (from the record, the date of this list is not discernible) wherein the appellant was shown as junior to respondent No.4. The appellant claimed that she was senior and, therefore, filed objections to the said seniority list, which, however, did not yield any result.

5) The then Headmaster of the School, one Mr. K.R. Lakeri, was due to retire on attaining the age of superannuation on 31.12.2009. The appellant claimed that she should be promoted as Headmistress, being the senior most teacher on the retirement of Mr. Lakeri and submitted an application to this effect on 16.05.2009, which was followed by another communication dated 01.12.2009. In reply, she received the communication dated 29.12.2009 from respondent No.1, which is a Charitable Trust running the School, asking for grounds and explanations on the basis of which she was staking her claim to the post of Headmistress. However, without waiting for the reply of the appellant and on the same day, that is on 29.12.2009, the Management of the School passed Resolution No.3 resolving to appoint respondent No.4 as the Headmaster of the School. Appointment letter dated 11.01.2010 was also issued in this behalf in favour of respondent No.4. This proposal was forwarded by the School authorities to the Education Officer (Secondary), Zilla Parishad, Satara (respondent No.5 herein) seeking approval for appointment of respondent No.4 as the Headmaster, which was granted by respondent No.5.

6) Feeling aggrieved by the promotion of respondent No.4, the appellant approached the School Tribunal by filing an appeal bearing No. 5/2010 seeking quashing of the orders of the authorities appointing respondent No.4. as the Headmaster of the School. This appeal was contested by the School authorities as well as the Education Officer taking the position that respondent No.4 was senior to the appellant. The School Tribunal, after hearing the matter, passed orders dated 26.09.2012 dismissing the appeal preferred by the appellant. The appellant challenged that order by filing the writ petition in the High Court of Bombay. This writ petition has also been dismissed by the High Court vide orders dated 25.02.2013. Undettered by