By the Court.—In view of Section 18 of the U.P. Secondary Education Services Selection Board Act, 1982, the seniormost Lecturer is compulsorily to be selected as ad hoc Principal. The said Section is set out below :

“18. Ad hoc Principals or Headmasters.—(1) Where the Management has notified a vacancy to the Board in accordance with sub-section (1) of Section 10 and the post of the Principal or the Headmaster actually remained vacant for more than two months, the Management shall fill such vacancy on purely ad hoc basis by promoting the seniormost teacher—

(a) in the lecturer’s grade in respect of a vacancy in the post of the Principal;

(b) in the trained graduate’s grade in respect of a vacancy in the post of the Headmaster.

(2) Where the Management fails to promote the senior-most teacher under sub-section (1) the Inspector shall himself issue the order of promotion of such teacher and the teacher concerned shall be entitled to get his salary as the Principal or the Headmaster, as the case may be, from the date he joins such post in pursuance of such order of promotion.

(3) Where the teacher to whom the order of promotion is issued under sub-section (2) is unable to join the post of the Principal or the Headmaster, as the case may be, due to any act or omission on the part of the Management, such teacher may submit his joining report to the Inspector and shall thereupon be entitled to get his salary as the Principal or the Headmaster, as the case may be, from the date he submits the said report.

(4) Every appointment of an ad hoc Principal or Headmaster under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) shall cease to have effect from the date when the candidate recommended by the Board joins the post.”

2. The seniormost Lecturer can be by-passed only in the most extraordinary circumstances where, say, he is on the death bed or he has been suspended and such like. The Rule is not that the seniormost Lecturer is ordinarily to be selected as ad hoc Principal, but the Rule is that only in the most extradordinary circumstances can such seniormost Lecturer not be selected as ad hoc Principal.

3. To the extent required by the above statement, we respectfully disapprove of the dicta in the case of Dr. Vijay Laxmi Agarwal v. Vice Chancellor, Mahatma Jyotiba Phoole Rohilkhand University, Bareilly and others, 2003(1) ESC 614 (All).

4. On this basis, the order under appeal dated 19-7-2006 has to be, and is hereby set aside; the writ petition of the respondent is dismissed.

5. The appeal is allowed.

Appeal Allowed.

————