The main legal point established in the judgment is the eligibility criteria for promotion as a Lecturer in History, the application of reservation policies, and the interpretation of relevant provisions of the U.P. Intermediate Education Act, 1921, U.P. Secondary Education Services Selection Board Act, 1982, and U.P. High School and Intermediate Colleges (Payment of Salaries of Teachers and Other Employees) Act, 1971.

R. K. Agrawal, J.—By means of the present writ petition, the petitioner Sunil Kumar Mishra seeks the following reliefs :

(a) to issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of certiorari quashing the order dated 6.3.2003, passed by the Joint Director of Education, 7th Region, Gorakhpur, respondent No. 1 filed as Annexure-1 to the writ petition and the order dated 5.3.2003, passed by the Regional Selection Committee filed as Annexure-2 to the writ petition.

(b) to issue a writ, order or direction in the nature of mandamus commanding, the respondents to promote the petitioner as Lecturer in History on permanent basis.

2. Briefly stated the facts giving rise to the present writ petition are as follows :

“There is an institution known as Lokmanya Inter College (hereinafter referred to as the

Institution), situated in Jankinagar, Seorahi, in the District of Kushinagar. It is a recognised institution and is governed by the provisions of U. P. Intermediate Education Act, 1921 (hereinafter referred to as the Act), the U. P. Secondary Education Services Selection Board Act, 1982, (hereinafter referred to as the 1982 Act) and the U. P. High School and Intermediate Colleges (Payment of Salaries of Teachers and Other Employees) Act, 1971 (hereinafter referred to as the Payment of Salaries Act), and the Rules and Regulations framed thereunder.”

3. According to the petitioner he was initially appointed as L.T. grade teacher in the institution on 1.8.1989. His services were regularised under Section 33B of the 1982 Act, by the Deputy Director of Education vide order dated 12.7.1976. When a post of lecturer in the institution fell vacant on account of retirement of Gyan Bhaskar Sinha on 30.6.1997, the petitioner staked his claim before the Committee of Management for promotion on the post of lecturer in the institution claiming himself to be the seniormost qualified teacher. The Committee of Management passed a resolution on 24.5.1998 for promotion of the petitioner on the post of lecturer in History. The District Inspector of Schools vide order dated 8.6.1998 granted approval to the ad hoc promotion of the petitioner under 50% promotional quota and he continued to function as Lecturer in History. According to the petitioner, feeling aggrieved by the promotion of the petitioner, Subhash Prasad, respondent No. 4, made a representation to the U. P. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission stating therein that while granting promotion to the post of lecturer, reservation policy has not been adhered to.

4. A development took place wherein the Vice Chancellor of Sri Deen Dayal Upadhyaya University, Gorakhpur vide order dated 11.10.1999, cancelled the result of petitioner’s M.A. (Previous) examination and the M.A. degree. The order dated 11.10.1999 was challenged by the petitioner by filing Civil Misc. Writ Petition No. 45155 of 1999, which was allowed vide judgment and order dated 25.11.1999 and the order dated 11.10.1999 was quashed.

5. In the meantime, the Committee of Management passed a resolution promoting Subhash Prasad, respondent No. 4 on the post of Lecturer on permanent basis under 50% promotional quota. The Joint Director of Education, issued a notice on 24.2.2003 calling upon the petitioner to appear before him on 5.3.2003 alongwith all the educational certificates. According to the petitioner, he appeared before the Joint Director of Education on 5.3.2003 and requested him for fixing some other date so as to enable him to file the relevant documents on which the Joint Director of Education, fixed 7.3.2003. The petitioner appeared before the Joint Director of Education on 7.3.2003 and submitted the documents. However, the Regional Selection Committee met on 5.3.2003 and recommended the cancellation of the petitioner’s promotion and further accepted the promotion of Subhash Prasad, respondent No. 4. The decision was communicated by the Joint Director of Education, to the District Inspector of Schools vide letter