Arun Tandon, J. - (1.) ADMITTEDLY the Petitioner has to his credit following qualifications i.e. M.A./L.T.
(2.) A Division Bench of this Court in the case of Sanjay Kumar Tyagi v. State of U.P. and Ors. reported in : 2005 (1) ESC, 713 as well as another Hon'ble Single Judge of this Court in the case of Raj Kumar Chauhan v. State of U.P. and Ors. (Writ petition No. 15793 of 2007 decided on 23.03.2007) has held that teaching qualification of L.T. like B.Ed. cannot be considered as equivalent to the teaching qualifications prescribed under Rule 4 of the U.P. Recognized Basic Schools (Junior High Schools) (Recruitment and Conditions of Service of Teachers) Rules, 1978 namely JTC, BTC, HTC etc. From the facts of the present writ petition it is apparently clear that the Petitioner before this Court claims to have been appointed in a recognized Junior High School on 07.06.1999 which appointment is stated to have been approved by the Basic Shiksha Adhikari on 07.06.2000. However, it is established from the documents on record that the Petitioner had to his credit teaching qualification of L.T. only (Reference Annexure -1 to the writ petition).
(3.) IN view of the Division Bench of this Court in the case of Sanjay Kumar Tyagi (Supra) as well as in view of the judgment of the Hon'ble Single Judge in the case of Raj Kumar Chauhan (Supra), it has to be held that the Petitioner was not possessed of the prescribed minimum qualification on the date he claims to be appointed in a recognized Junior High School. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Mohd. Sartaj v. State of U.P. and Ors. reported in, 2006 JT (3), 331 has specifically held that qualifications for appointment have to be judged on the date of appointment. The Apex Court has also clarified that any length of working will not cure the defect of lack of essential qualification at the time of initial appointment. Such appointments are null and void. Reference may also be had to the judgment of the Apex Court in the case of Pramod Kumar v. U.P. Secondary Education Services Commission and Ors. reported in, 2008 (4) ALJ 207.;