The duty of the respondent school to fill vacant posts without delay and the importance of remedying any situation resulting in the delay of teachers' service conditions.

ORDER

Chandra Dhari Singh, J. (Oral)

1. The instant petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been filed on behalf of the petitioner seeking the following reliefs:

"a. Issue Writ of mandamus and/or any other appropriate Writ, order or direction to the Respondents quashing the communication/order dated 24.05.2018 wherein the Respondent NO. 2 has dismissed the representation dated 13.02.2017 of the Petitioner mentioning therein that the benefits of promotion will be given w.e.f. the joining of the employee i.e. 31.10.2016;

b. Issuance of Writ of mandamus and/or any other appropriate Writ, order or direction to the respondents considering the post of the petitioner as TGT (Sanskrit) w.e.f. 2013 from when the petitioner was assigned teaching work for the TGT classes instead of formal date of joining of post of TGT i.e. w.e.f. 31.10.2016;

c. Issuance of Writ of mandamus and/or any other appropriate Writ, order or direction calling for the relevant records pertaining to the Petitioner for adjudication of the present writ petition;

d. Pass any other order(s) as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the present case."

2. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner submitted that the respondent no. 2, while deciding her representation dated 13th February 2017, has passed the impugned order dated 24th May 2018, without considering the facts and entirety of the matter which have been stated in the said representation.

3. It is submitted that the petitioner became eligible for the post of TGT Sanskrit in the year 2013, and she was regularly teaching the said subjects since 2013 at the secondary level, as a TGT teacher. Hence, she is entitled for the arrears of her salary as a TGT teacher w.e.f. July 2013, and not from the date of the formal joining i.e., 31st October 2016.

4. It is submitted that it is an admitted fact that there were no TGT teachers for the subjects of Hindi and Sanskrit in the respondent school, and the petitioner was the only TGT teacher available to teach the students.

5. It is submitted that the respondent no. 2, whilst passing the impugned order dated 24th May 2018, failed to appreciate that at the time of joining, the petitioner's educational qualification documents along with the certificate issued by the Dr. R.M.L. University, Faizabad, were duly verified by the department of the respondent school and therefore, any complaint alleging the invalidity of the petitioner's educational documents are unsustainable.

6. It is submitted that the stand of the respondent school that few complaints were received against the petitioner due to which there was a delay in convening the meeting by Departmental Promotion Committee (hereinafter "DPC") does not hold any force.

7. Learned counsel for the petitioner placed strong reliance upon the judgment passed by the Division Bench of this Court in Delhi Cantonment Board v. Raj Kumari Sachdeva, 2014 SCC OnLine Del 179. It is submitted that the Division Bench of this court in the said judgment reaffirmed the observations of the single bench, whereby, it was held that the teachers are entitled to the arrears of salary from the date as per which the teachers were discharging their duties on the said post and not when the same was sanctioned.

8. It is submitted that in view of the above facts and circumstances, there is no merit in the impugned order and this Court may set aside the impugned order dated 24th May 2018 , thereby, considering the petitioner's promotion w.e.f. July, 2013 and also granting the arrears of her salary w.e.f. July, 2013 and not from the date of her actual joining i.e. 31st October 2016.

9. Per contra, Mr. Naushad Ahmad Khan, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent no. 1 vehemently opposed the submissions advanced by the learned counsel for the petitioner and submitted that this is the second round of litigation. In the first round, a Coordinate Bench of this Court vide order