A. P. DESHPANDE, J. :- A conflict in the views expressed by two Division Benches of this Court was noticed by one of us and hence, a reference made to the Honourable the Chief Justice with a request to refer the matter to a Bench comprising of more than two Judges. This Full Bench is constituted pursuant to the said reference. We formulate the point of reference as herein low:-

" For promotion to the post of Head Master of a Primary School, whether seniority of the teacher is to be counted from the date of initial appointment, or from the date of acquisition of educational and training qualification ?"

2. In a judgment reported in 2003(3) Mh.L.J. 438 in case of Chintaman maji Mahakalkar vs. Education Officer (Primary), Zilla Parishad, Wardha others, the Division Bench held that the seniority of primary school teachers has to be determined on the basis of date of joining service and continuous lciation irrespective of the date of acquiring D.Ed. qualification, whereas a contrary view is expressed in another Division Bench judgment of this Court reported in 2003(3) Mh.L.J. 206, in case of Rajhans Narayanrao Shahapure and others vs. Prabhavati Vithalrao Kamble and others