Interpretation of the conditions for habitation to be considered a village for the purpose of drawing the panel of local candidates as ReT.

JUDGMENT :

Sanjeev Kumar, J.

1. Vide Advertisement Notification No. CEO/K/12SSA/6957-60, dated 28.12.2012 issued by respondent No. 3, applications were invited for engagement of ReT under SSA against the target of 2011-12 in various schools of District Kishtwar including two posts of ReT in new Primary School lower Hunjala falling in revenue village Pochal-B.

2. Responding to the aforesaid advertisement notification, the petitioners along with eight others submitted their applications for consideration against the twin posts of ReT in UPS Hunjala. Accordingly, a merit panel was prepared by the ZEO concerned taking Habitation Hunjala as a village as explained in Government Order No. 288-Edu of 2009, dated 08.04.2009. Thereafter, select panel was prepared considering only the eligible candidates belonging to habitation Hunjala. Accordingly, the petitioners were placed at S. No. 2 and 1 respectively. It is the grievance of the petitioners that instead of forwarding panel to the Director School Education for approval and issuing the formal orders of engagement in favour of the petitioners, respondent No. 3 vide his communication dated 30.04.2014 directed that the select panel to be redrawn at revenue village level in the light of certificate issued by the Tehsildar Kishtwar vide his No. 21/44 dated 08.01.2013.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that respondent No. 3 while directing that the select panel be redrawn at revenue village level also called upon respondent No. 4 to take up the matter with Assistant Commissioner (R) Kishtwar for clarification. Further submission of learned counsel for the petitioner is that respondent, No. 4 took up the matter with Assistant Commissioner (R) Kishtwar but the Assistant Commissioner (R) Kishtwar instead of giving clarification endorsed the certificate of Tehsildar Kishtwar dated 08.01.2013 stating that the matter falls within the domain of Tehsildar concerned as such does not call for any clarification. The grievance of the petitioner in this petition is that since the habitation Hunjala qualifies to be a village in terms of Government Order No. 288-Edu of 2009, dated 08.04.2009 as such, the panel was rightly drawn by respondent No. 4 by taking habitation Hunjala as a unit. He however, submits that even going by the certificate issued by the Tehsildar concerned dated 08.01.2013 even though habitation Hunjala is scattered over two revenue villages i.e. revenue village Pochal-B where the school in question is situated and Lachdeyaram, yet for the purposes of applicability of Government Order No. 288-Edu of 2009, dated 08.04.2009, the same should be taken as one hamlet and the candidates belonging to the aforesaid hamlet alone should be considered irrespective of the fact whether the habitation falls in one village or it is scattered over two revenue villages.

4. The bone of contention in this writ petition is the ambiguity contained in Government Order No. 288-Edu of 2009, dated 08.04.2009. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that faced with the same situation, the department of Education while filing the objections in similar writ petition took a stand that the Government Order No. 288-Edu of 2009, dated 08.04.2009 needed clarification on this aspect and that the matter had been taken up with the Competent Authority for clarification. He, however, submits that pending clarification, the consideration of this matter needs to be deferred.

5. I have considered the submissions made by learned counsel for the parties and gone through record.

6. The facts in this case are not in dispute and the controversy can be resolved by giving a holistic interpretation to Government Order No. 288-Edu of 2009, dated 08.04.2009.

7. Before we come to the terms of aforesaid Government Order, it would be appropriate to notice that the ReT scheme in J & K State was launched vide Government Order No. 396 of Edu 2000, dated 28.04.2000 with the following objects:

i. Promoting the decentralized management of