JUDGEMENT
SAMBUDDHA CHAKRABARTI,J. -
(1.) BY this writ petition the petitioner has prayed for a writ in the nature of Mandamus commanding the respondents to pay to him as per law all
retiral benefits as well as interest calculated from the date of approval
of appointment and arrears of salary, to pay pension and for other
reliefs.
The case of the petitioner inter alia is that he was an organising
teacher of a secondary school and he was appointed as its Headmaster with
effect from January 2, 1970. From September 29, 1973 he was prevented by
the secretary of the school from taking any class and the petitioner was
not even allowed to sign the attendance register. The secretary had
informed the petitioner subsequently that the managing committee was
unable to take any decision in his favour but if the higher authorities
or any judgement allows the petitioner to join the committee will have no
objection.
(2.) THE petitioner filed a writ petition which was disposed of in the year 2003 with a direction upon the Director of School Education to dispose of the petitioner 's grievance by passing a reasoned order. The petitioner
subsequently filed another writ petition challenging the ex parte
decision passed by the Director of School Education on July 22, 2003. The
said writ petition was disposed of by an order dated May 2, 2011 by a
single Judge of this court wherein it was the finding of the court that
the secretary of the school himself was not willing to allow the
petitioner to join his duties. The court found that the allegation of the
petitioner had substance. The ex parte order was set aside and the
Director of School Education was directed to rehear the matter in the
light of the observations made in the said order upon giving the
petitioner an opportunity of hearing wherein he would be entitled to
submit all the documents.
The hearing was given by the Deputy Director of School Education in the absence of the District Inspector of Schools. At the hearing the
petitioner had submitted a written note of submission. The Director of
School Education passed the impugned order dated January 9, 2012 wherein
the authority refused to give relief to the petitioner.
The petitioner has assailed the order by asserting that while he was
working as the Headmaster of the school he was prevented by the secretary
of the school from discharging his duties and this continued till his
date of retirement on January 31, 2008. Till the date of the retirement
he could not performed his duties. Therefore, he is not the person at
fault. A further point of grievance of the petitioner is that the
respondents authorities had exceeded the jurisdiction by conducting an
enquiry into the matter and thus tried to re-adjudicate which was not
directed by this court while disposing of the petitioner 's earlier writ
petition. It may be mentioned that in spite of opportunity being given to
file affidavitin- opposition the respondents have not used any affidavit
and in spite of fresh service of notice upon the respondents they did not
even appear to contest the case.
(3.) IT appears from the order impugned that it was decided to make an in situ enquiry by three officers. The report as submitted by the team revealed
that they had interrogated the then secretary of the school, the
ex-teacher-in-charge of the school and other teachers and they concluded
that they could not get any evidence from the in situ enquiry to
substantiate conclusively that the petitioner was prevented from entering
the school forcefully. From this and after considering some of the
Government Orders of 1977, 1978 and 1980 it was held that the school
authority was rightly not in a position in the year 1995 to allow the
petitioner to join in view of the leave rules. Moreover the post held by
the petitioner was filled up by another incumbent in view of the prior
permission accorded by then District Inspector of Schools. The District
Inspector of Schools had also referred to a Government Order, dated
August 19, 1977, which stipulated that the teachers and other employees
who were actually prevented from attending schools or performing their
normal duties were to be immediately allowed to join their duties and
they should join it within one month from the date of the order or might
at their option continue to remain in their alternative employment in any
other educational institution within the state. The respondent authority
held that in spite of the said orders the petitioner preferred writing
only some type of common letters by post in more or less the same
language to the functionaries of educational authorities even after 1980.
He also observed that the petitioner did not register any General Diary
or First Information Report with the police station or did not submit any
application at the receiving section of any educational authority. The
Director of School Education further held that there are different fora
to register the complaints against a functionary and as a last resort one
may take shelter of this court. The petitioner preferred to take the
shelter only in the year 1995, i.e., about 15 years after the publication
of the Government Order dated August 19, 1977. From this he concluded
that the petitioner preferred to delay and to pass out time. On this
groundrelief to the petitioner was declined, because the action taken by
him is not in conformity with the condition as stipulated in the
Government Order dated August 19, 1977.;
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