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2010 Supreme(Mad) 2384
High Court of Judicature at Madras
D. HARIPARANTHAMAN
I. Mohan
Versus
The Director, The Director of School Education, (Higher Secondary) & Another
W.P.No.7122 of 2009
Decided On : 17-06-2010
For the Petitioner:I. Arockia Selvaraj, Advocate.
For the Respondents:Mrs. Geetha Tahamaraiselvan, Government Advocate.
The court emphasized the principle of equal treatment and regularisation of services for Schedule Caste teachers, in line with the benefits granted to other similarly situated teachers.
Headnote:
Regularisation - Schedule Caste - The court directed the regularisation of the petitioner's services from the date of initial appointment and payment of salary applicable to the secondary grade teacher post for the relevant period.
Fact of the Case:
The petitioner, belonging to Schedule Caste, was appointed as a Secondary Grade Teacher at an aided school. He underwent 'Child Psychology' training after his appointment, and his services were regularised from a later date.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the petitioner's services should be regularised from the date of initial appointment, and he should be paid the salary applicable to the secondary grade teacher post for the period from the date of initial appointment to the completion of training.
Issues: Regularisation of services, payment of salary for the relevant period
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the petitioner, who belonged to Schedule Caste, should be granted the same benefit of regularisation as the graduate Schedule Caste teachers under the control of Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribes Welfare Department, who underwent 'Child Psychology' training at a later date.
Final Decision: The court directed the respondents to regularise the petitioner's services from the date of initial appointment and pay his salary applicable to the secondary grade teacher post for the period from the date of initial appointment to the completion of training.
The petitioner belongs to Schedule Caste. He is a Post-Graduate and also obtained M.Ed., He was appointed as Secondary Grade Teacher at Guruvappa Higher Secondary School, Neikkarapatti, S.K.C.Nagar, Periyakalayamputhur Post, Palani, Dindigul District, by an order dated 04.06.2002. He was appointed in the vacancy caused due to the retirement of one Mr.S.Varadharajan. The said school is an aided school getting 100% aid from the Government of Tamil Nadu.
2. The graduate teachers could not be appointed against secondary grade teacher vacancy. Since, there are no SC/ST candidates with Diploma in Teachers Education for appointment to the post of Secondary Grade Teacher, the Government issued G.O.Ms.No.113, School Education Department dated 14.03.1997, permitting the recruitment of graduate teachers belonging to SC/ST categories in secondary grade post. However, a condition was stipulated that those persons should undergo one month "Child Psychology" training before the appointment.
3. The said G.O.Ms.No.113 was extended to the schools under the SC & ST Welfare Department by G.O.Ms.No.63, Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribes Welfare Department dated 01.04.1997. The persons without undergoing "Child Psychology" training, were appointed as secondary grade teachers under the control of Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribes Welfare Department, since, there was no possibility of getting training immediately and the posts were remaining vacant for a long time. In these circumstances, the Government issued G.O.Ms.No.122, Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe Welfare Department, dated 02.08.2005, wherein the persons who were appointed without "Child Psychology" training were sought to be regularised from the initial date of appointment.
4. The Government issued G.O.Ms.No.301, School Education Department, dated 09.11.1999, permitting the aided schools to appoint graduate schedule caste candidates in the secondary grade post if there are no persons available from SC/ST candidates with secondary grade qualification. A condition is stipulated in G.O.Ms.No.301, that such a graduate person from schedule caste category should undergo one month "Child Psychology" training before his appointment.
5. In this case, the petitioner underwent training from 09.12.2003 to 09.01.2004. According to him, though the petitioner and the school repeatedly requested the authorities to sponsor his name for taking training in "Child Psychology", he was sent for training only in December 2003. In these circumstances, his services were regularised by the second respondent only from 10.01.2004.
6. The petitioner has now come with this writ petition seeking for a direction to the first respondent to regularise his services from his date of initial appointment i.e., 05.06.2002 and also to pay salary payable to the secondary grade teachers for the period from 05.06.2002 to 09.01.2004.
7. Notice of motion was ordered. The first respondent filed counter affidavit.
8. Heard Mr.I.Arockia Selvaraj, learned counsel for the petitioner and Mrs.Geetha Tahamaraiselvan, learned Government Advocate for the respondents.
9. The learned counsel for the petitioner states that since the Government issued G.O.Ms.No.122, Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe Welfare Department, dated 02.08.2005 regularising the services of the graduate Schedule Caste candidate, who were appointed against secondary grade vacancy from the date of their appointment, even though they underwent "Child Psychology" training later, the first respondent shall not deny the similar benefit to Schedule Caste teachers recruited in aided schools.
10. The learned Government Advocate states that the petitioner underwent "Child Psychology" only in December 2003 and completed the same on 09.01.2004 and therefore, he was regularised with effect from 10.01.2004 as per G.O.Ms.No.301 (referred to above).
11. In my view, since the Government regularised the graduate Schedule Caste teachers under the control of Schedule Cast
