- (1.) This petition seeks the quashing of the order dated 30th August, 2010 passed by the State Government by which the claim of the petitioner for extension of service by two years as she had received the National Award has been rejected.
(2.) The petitioner was initially appointed as an Assistant Teacher in the L.T. Grade in the Kumari Udyan Balika Inter College, Ashok Nagar, Kanpur Nagar (hereinafter referred to as the Institution'), which is a recognised, aided and Minority Institution governed by the provisions of the U.P. Intermediate Education Act, 1921 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Act'). The petitioner was subsequently appointed as permanent Head Mistress of the High School and she attained the age of superannuation i.e. 62 years on 1st November, 2009 but continued to work till the end of academic session and retired on 30th June, 2010. During the service period, the petitioner was conferred the National Award for teachers in the year 2005 by the Ministry of Human Resources Development. The Committee of Management of the Institution resolved on 15th June, 2009 to forward the papers of the petitioner to the District Inspector of Schools for extension of service by two years in accordance with the Government Order issued by the State Government. The District Inspector of Schools forwarded the papers to the Joint Director of Education who forwarded them to the Additional Director of Education. The Director of Education made recommendation to the State Government for sanction of extension of service of the petitioner by two years by his communication dated 17th February, 2010. The State Government sought some clarification and it is stated that as the matter remained pending, the Institution permitted the petitioner to continue to function as the Head Mistress of the Institution. The petitioner also filed Writ Petition No. 48169 of 2010 for a direction upon the Secretary, Department of Secondary Education to take a decision in the matter, which petition was disposed of on 12th August, 2010 with a direction to the Secretary, Department of Secondary Education to ensure that a final decision is taken in the matter expeditiously, preferably within two months. The State Government, however, by the order dated 30th August, 2010 did not find the petitioner suitable for granting extension of service by two years for the reason that during the inspection made by the District Inspector of Schools on 29th July, 2008, it came to his knowledge that the Head Mistress had illegally collected money from the students and utilised it according to her own whims. It is this order dated 30th August, 2010 that has been impugned in the present petition.
(3.) Sri Ashok Khare, learned Senior Counsel for the petitioner submitted that the impugned order deserves to be set aside as it is contrary to the Government Order governing grant of extension of service to teachers who have been awarded the State or National Awards. It is his submission that even otherwise, the order has been passed without providing any opportunity whatsoever to the petitioner or the Management, particularly when the Director of Education in his communication dated 17th February, 2010 had clearly mentioned that no departmental proceedings were pending against the petitioner. It is also his submission that the report is factually incorrect and if the proposal was to be rejected on the basis of the report submitted by the District Inspector of Schools, then the said report should have been made available to the petitioner so that she could submit her explanation but it was not done.;