- (1.) The appellant sought to challenge an advertisement dated 29 January 2016 issued for the appointment of one Headmaster and four Assistant Teachers. Of the four posts of Assistant Teachers, one was reserved for OBCs and three were treated as unreserved. The appellant sought a mandamus to implement the provisions of reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The learned Single Judge has relied upon the judgment of a Full Bench of this Court in Heera Lal vs. State of U.P. and others (Writ Petition No.31716 of 2004 and Writ Petition No.51617 of 2009, delivered on 9 July 2010). The Full Bench has formulated its conclusions as follows: "In view of the reasons in support of the conclusions drawn herein above our answers to the questions posed are as follows: 1. Question No. 1 is answered in the negative holding that either in cases of promotion or direct recruitment, the rule of reservation providing for 21% reservation to scheduled castes under U.P. Act No. 4 of 1994 as applicable to aided educational institutions cannot be pressed into service where the number of posts in the cadre is less than five."
(2.) The learned counsel appearing on behalf of the appellant does not dispute the legal position as it emerges from the judgment in Heera Lal . However, the submission before the Court is that the advertisement actually was for making selection of five posts and not four as presumed in the order of the learned Single Judge. The learned counsel submits that the post of Headmaster should be clubbed with the posts of Assistant Teachers in which event the total number of posts would be five.
(3.) We see no merit in the contention. The Uttar Pradesh Recognized Basic Schools (Junior High Schools) (Recruitment & Conditions of Service of Teachers) Rules, 1978 make it abundantly clear that the post of Headmaster cannot be regarded as falling in the cadre of Assistant Teachers. The minimum qualifications under Rule 4, the age limits in Rule 8 and the Selection Committee in Rule 9 are distinct for Headmasters and Assistant Teachers. The appellant was desirous of applying for the post of Assistant Teacher and there were only four posts of Assistant Teachers which were advertised. Hence, the learned Single Judge was correct in coming to the conclusion that there could be no reservation for the SC/ST candidates since the total number of posts was less than five. Consequently, we see no merit in the special appeal.;