The main legal point established in the judgment is that the provisions of the Punjab Affiliated Colleges (Security of Service) Act, 1974 do not apply to the termination of service of an employee appointed for a temporary period. The judgment also emphasizes the need for maintaining discipline and the importance of teachers' conduct in educational institutions.

Harinder Singh Sidhu, J.:-

1. This order shall dispose of aforesaid two writ petitions as in both common issues arise for adjudication. For facility of reference, the facts are being taken from CWP No. 240 of 2015.

2. This petition has been filed praying for quashing the order dated December 29, 2014 (Annexure P-6) issued by Patel Memorial National College - respondent No. 4, whereby, the services of the petitioner have been dispensed with as being no longer required and he has been relieved from College duties.

3. It has been averred that Respondent No. 4-College was established in the year 1966 and is run by the Patel Memorial Management Society (Regd.) - respondent No. 3. It has been stated that due to inter-se dispute between the members of the Managing Committee, the Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Rajpura, has been appointed as Administrator of the said Society. The College is affiliated to the Punjabi University Patiala. It is receiving 95% grant-in-aid from the State of Punjab and its name figures in the list of Privately Managed Government Aided Colleges issued by the Director Public Instructions (Colleges) Punjab.

4. The petitioner was appointed as Assistant Professor in Journalism and Mass Communication in the College on July 26, 2010. It has been averred that as per the practice in the College, no formal appointment letter was issued to the petitioner. The petitioner has, since his joining on July 26, 2010, been continuously working as Assistant Professor without any break. He has also been discharging the duties of Public Relations Officer in the College.

5. Suddenly, the petitioner received the order dated December 29, 2014 (Annexure P-6) passed by the Principal of the College stating that as per the directions of the Administrator/College Management, the services of the petitioner were not required in the College and as such he has been relieved from his duties w.e.f. December 29, 2014. It is this order that has been impugned in the present petition.

6. It is stated that the termination of the petitioner is illegal, having been made in violation of the mandatory provisions of the Punjab Affiliated Colleges (Security of Service) Act, 1974 (in short "the 1974 Act"). Aggrieved of the order, the petitioner had filed a statutory petition under Section 7(A) of the 1974 Act before the Learned Educational Tribunal, Punjab. But, as at the time of the filing of the petition, the Educational Tribunal was not functional because of a vacancy in the office of the Chairman, and since the matter was of urgent nature and did not brook any delay, the petitioner chose to impugn the order by filing the present writ petition.

7. Reply has been filed on behalf of respondents No. 3 and 4 contesting the claim of the petitioner. It has been stated that the petitioner was appointed on purely ad-hoc basis in a walk-in interview, wherein no formal appointment letters are issued. The post, against which the petitioner is working, is wholly self-financed by the College and against this post, no grant-in-aid is received. The petitioner was being paid a consolidated salary by the respondent private college. Services of the petitioner could be terminated at any time without any reason being assigned as the petitioner is not governed by the 1974 Act. It has been stated that out of the total staff of eighty, only seven posts are covered by the Grant in aid Rules.

8. Detailing the background which led to the passing of the impugned order, it has been stated that there was a dispute between two groups of the teachers, which led to the filing of complaint by a particular teacher against the other group of which the petitioner was a part. The basic allegation in the complaint related to the damage caused to the car of the complainant by the other party who happened to be the Incharge of Bhangra Team of the College. Acting on the aforesaid complaint, the SDM-cum-Administrator convened a meeting with the Principal and all Heads of Departments. The DSP and Tehs

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