The Allahabad High Court has directed the Secretary, Basic Education Council, Prayagraj, to decide the representation in three months filed seeking mutual transfer of two primary school teachers in Kaushambi and Prayagraj districts.
A Single Bench of Justice Ashutosh Srivastava passed this order while hearing a petition filed by Kul Bhushan Mishra and Another.
The writ petitioners, who are Assistant Teachers in Primary School run by U.P Basic Shiksha Parishad, have approached the Court seeking issuance of writ of mandamus commanding the Secretary Board of Basic Education U.P Prayagraj to accord approval to their mutual transfers under Rule-21 of the U.P Basic Education (Teachers) Service Rules, 1981.
It is contended that the petitioners have made a representation on 25.8.2022 along with notary affidavit and the same may be directed to be decided.
Counsel for the petitioners submitted that petitioner no 1( Kul Bhushan Mishra) was appointed as Assistant Teacher in Primary School, Ichchhna, Block Nevada, Kaushambi, vide order dated 10.3.2019, passed by the District Basic Education Officer, Kaushambi, while the petitioner no 2 was appointed as Assistant Teacher in Primary School Dhanupur Block Dhanupur Prayagraj, The petitioner no1 is stated to be resident of Chak Kashiram, Sikandara, Prayagraj while the petitioner no 2 is stated to be the resident of District Fatehpur.
The petitioners have sought mutual transfer taking recourse to Rule-21 of the U.P Basic Education (Teachers) Service Rules, 1981, on the ground of hardship faced by the respective families inasmuch as it is categorically stated that the maternal father (Nana) of the petitioner no 1 is stated to be of 102 years and fully dependent on his mother who is also about 80 years old and there is no one else to look after them except the petitioner no1.
Both the mother and maternal father (Nana) of the petitioner no 1 are stated to be residing at Chak Kashiram, Sikandara, Prayagraj.
It is further stated that the children of the petitioner no1 namely Bind Bhushan aged about 10 years and Vaibhav Bhusan aged about 6 years are students of B.B.S School and College, Shivkuti Road, Prayagraj, studying in Class 7th and 2nd , respectively. The daughter of petitioner no 1 namely Jaya Bhusan is aged about 15 years and is also a student of Class 11th of the said school.
Likewise, it is submitted that the petitioner no 2 is resident of Fatehpur and is the only son of his parents who are entirely dependent upon him. The parents of the petitioner no 2 are residing at native village in District Fatehpur and the petitioner no 2 is unable to take care of his parents who are of considerable age.
In the aforesaid circumstances, the petitioners have sought their mutual transfer. The petitioner no1 is seeking transfer from District Kaushambi to District Prayagraj while the petitioner no 2, who is posted at Prayagraj, seeks transfer to the District Kaushambi, the Court noted.
It is next contended by the counsel for the petitioners that the petitioners seek mutual transfer from District Kaushambi to Prayagraj and vice versa and in that regard they have already preferred a representation dated 25.8.2022 addressed to the Secretary, Board of Basic Education U.P Prayagraj/respondent no 3.
It is thus submitted that the purpose of filing the writ petition shall stand served if the respondent no 3 is directed to pass orders on the said representation in the light of the Rule-21 of the U.P Basic Education (Teachers) Service Rules, 1981 as also Rule-8 of the U.P Basic Education (Teachers)(Posting) Rules, 2008 as well as the judicial pronouncements of the Court taking a sympathetic view.
Archana Singh, counsel for respondent no 2, Harsh Vardhan Gupta, counsel for respondent no 5 and Arun Kumar, counsel representing respondents no 3 and 4, in opposition to the writ petition and the relief claimed, submit that no policy for mutual transfer has yet been framed by the Government.
They also submitted that since the petitioners are seeking mutual transfer in the midst of the session the same may not be appropriate as it would adversely affect the functioning of the respective institutions. However, they do not dispute that the claim may be considered by the Secretary, Board of Basic Education U.P Prayagraj.
So far as the contention of the counsel representing the respondents that no policy exists for effecting mutual transfers is concerned, a coordinate Bench of the Court in writ petition (Kavya Pandey vs State of U.P and others) has held that implementation of provisions in Rule 8(2)(d) is not dependent upon framing of any policy, the Court further noted.
“In view of the above, considering the respective hardships being faced by the petitioners and their families who are dependent on them, ends of justice shall stand served by disposing of the writ petition by directing the Secretary, Board of Basic Education U.P Prayagraj to sympathetically consider the representation and accord approval to the mutual transfer sought by the petitioners at the end of the current academic session, expeditious preferably within a period of three months from the date of service of certified copy of the order”, the Court observed while disposing of the petition.