2026:CGHC:7569-DB NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WA No. 942 of 2025 Ashok Kumar Gatpalli S/o Late Suraiya Gatpalli Aged About 30 Years Posted As Peon, At Government High School, Benglur, Block-

Bhairamgarh, District- Bijapur, Chhattisgarh.

... Appellant versus

1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through The Secretary, Department Of School Education, Mahanadi Bhawan, Atal Nagar, Naya Raipur, District- Raipur (C.G.)

2 - Collector Tribal Welfare, District- Bijapur, Chhattisgarh.

3 - Assistant Commissioner Tribal Welfare, District- Bijapur, Chhattisgarh.

4 - District Education Officer District- Bijapur, Chhattisgarh.

5 - Block Education Officer Block - Bhairamgarh, District- Bijapur, Chhattisgarh.

... Respondents (Cause title taken from Case Information System)

Digitally For Appellant : Mr. Mateen Siddiqui, Advocate signed by VED VED PRAKASH

PRAKASH DEWANGAN

DEWANGAN Date:

2026.02.12 For Respondents/State : Mr. Praveen Das, Addl. Advocate General

+0530

Hon'ble Shri Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice Hon’ble Shri Ravindra Kumar Agrawal, Judge Judgment on Board Per Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice

11/02/2026

1. Heard Mr. Mateen Siddiqui, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the appellant as well as Mr. Praveen Das, learned Additional Advocate General appearing on behalf of the respondents/State on I.A. No. 2 of 2025, which is an application for condonation of delay of

17 days in preferring the instant appeal.

2. On due consideration and for the reasons mentioned in the application, the same is allowed and the Delay of 17 days in filing the present writ appeal stands condoned.

3. With the consent of the learned counsel appearing for the parties, and in the interest of justice, the Court proceeds to hear and decide the present writ appeal finally.

4. The present writ appeal under Section 2(1) of the Chhattisgarh High Court (Appeal to Division Bench) Act, 2006, has been preferred by the appellant challenging the order dated 17.09.2025 passed by the Hon’ble Single Judge in WPS No. 10580 of 2025, whereby the writ petition filed by the appellant seeking quashing of the impugned termination order dated 19.02.2025 issued by the District Education Officer, Bijapur, was disposed of directing the appellant to approach the appellate authority. The appellant, in the writ petition as well as in the present appeal, has assailed the termination order on multiple grounds, including violation of principles of natural justice, lack of jurisdiction on the part of the District Education Officer to pass such an order, failure to follow the mandatory procedure prescribed under Rule 14 of the Chhattisgarh Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1966, and arbitrariness in retrospectively applying the Finance Department Circular dated 22.03.2018 reducing the period of deemed resignation from five years to three years.

5. The facts of the case, as emerges from the pleadings of the appeal, are that, the appellant, Ashok Kumar Gatpalli, son of Late Suraiya Gatpalli, was appointed as Peon in the Government service under the Tribal Welfare Department pursuant to the policy of compassionate appointment issued by the State Government in a letter dated 10.02.2012, in consequence of the tragic demise of his father in a Naxalite incident. The appointment order dated 30.09.2014 was issued by the Assistant Commissioner, Tribal Welfare, Bijapur, and the appellant joined his duties at Boys Ashram, Koshalnar, Block Bhairamgarh, District Bijapur on 15.10.2014.

*******The appellant served diligently and with utmost sincerity; however, in mid-2015, he developed serious urological and renal complications requiring continuous medical treatment and hospitalization. The appellant was admitted to District Hospital, Jagdalpur, and later to CHC Usoor, and medical certificates were issued recommending leave on medical grounds initially from 15.07.2015 to 29.12.2015, and subsequently extending the leave till

20.06.2016.

*******During the period of his medical leave, a temporary transfer/attachme