Employment in a state-aided institution requires proof of appointment against a duly sanctioned post per statutory recruitment procedures. Appointments based on unverified or forged records do not create a vested right to compensation, and equitable considerations cannot substitute for legal compliance when accessing public funds.

JUDGMENT :

Manju Rani Chauhan, J.

1. Heard learned counsel for the petitioners, Mr. Shailendra Singh, learned Standing Counsel for the State, learned counsel appearing for the District Basic Education Officer, and perused the record.

2. As all the abovementioned three petitions arise out of connected facts and involve common questions for consideration, with the consent of learned counsel for the parties, the same are being heard and decided together by this common judgment.

3. Placing the brief facts of the case, learned counsel for the petitioners submits that Dharmendra Kumar Janta Laghu Madhyamik Vidyalaya, Satgur Muzuri, District Maharajganj[The Institution] is a duly recognized Junior High School, which was brought on the grant-in-aid list vide order dated 12.09.1994. The Institution in question was established in the year 1974 as a Junior High School imparting education from Classes VI to VIII and has been functioning continuously since its establishment. The Institution, as already stated, was brought under the grant-in-aid list for the first time vide order of the State Government dated 12.09.1994.

4. At the relevant point of time, the Institution had one Headmaster, 13 Assistant Teachers, 3 Class-IV employees, and 1 Class-III employee working therein. Subsequently, vide order dated 08.06.1996 passed by the Assistant Director of Education (Basic), Seventh Region, Gorakhpur, 7 posts of Assistant Teachers and 1 post of Assistant Clerk were sanctioned/created for the Institution in question.

5. For the purpose of filling up the aforesaid sanctioned posts, the Institution sought prior permission from the District Basic Education Officer, Maharajganj [BSA],which was granted vide order dated 06.06.1996, permitting the Institution to publish advertisements in newspapers in accordance with the prescribed procedure under law.

6. Accordingly, the Manager of the Institution proceeded to advertise the aforesaid posts in two daily newspapers in accordance with law. Pursuant thereto, eligible candidates, including the petitioners, duly submitted their applications and appeared before the Selection Committee. The Selection Committee, after considering the candidature of the applicants, held the selection proceedings on 27.06.1996 and found the petitioners to be the most suitable candidates on the basis of quality point marks. Consequently, their names were recommended for issuance of appointment letters. Thereafter, the Committee of Management, accepting the recommendations made by the Selection Committee, duly forwarded the relevant papers to the District Basic Education Officer, Maharajganj, for grant of approval, which came to be accorded on 29.06.1996.

7. On the basis of the aforesaid approval, all the petitioners joined their respective posts on 01.07.1996 and have been discharging their duties regularly and continuously since then. The petitioners were paid salary regularly, without any interruption, and continued to receive the same up to the month of August, 2000. However, without any justifiable reason and without affording any op