1 2025:CGHC:5894 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WPS No. 6201 of 2024 1 - Dharmendra Kumar Jain S/o Deo Kumar Jain Aged About 62 Years Reseding At - 30-320 Ganesh Ram Nagar Sastri Sadan Babu Jagjeevan Ram Ward Raipur (C.G.) - 492001 ... Petitioner(s) versus 1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through Its Secretary Department Of School Education Mahanadi Bhawan Mantralaya New Raipur District - Raipur (C.G.). 2 - Commissioner Municipal Corporation, Raipur , District - Raipur (C.G.). 3 - Additional Commissioner Municipal Corporation Raipur District - Raipur (C.G.). 4 - The Director Directorate Of Public Instruction Department Of School Education Indrawati Bhawan Block 1st Floor Atal Nagar Naya Raipur District - Raipur (C.G.). Digitally signed by RAGHVENDRA JAT 2 5 - The District Education Officer Raipur District - Raipur (C.G.) 6 - The Block Education Officer Dharsiwa District - Raipur (C.G.) 7 - Swami Atmanand Madhavrao Sapre Excellent Hindi Medium Government Higher Secondary School Through Its Principal Budhapara Raipur, Dharshiwa Blick District - Raipur (C.G.) ... Respondent(s) For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Ankit Singhal, Advocate. For Respondent(s)/State : Mr. Kanwaljeet Singh Saini, Panel Lawyer. For Respondents No. 2 & 3 : Mr. Pankaj Agrawal, Advocate. Hon’ble Mr. Justice Amitendra Kishore Prasad Order on Board 31/01/2025 1. By way of this petition, the petitioner has prayed for following reliefs:- “10.1 That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to pass any appropriate writ, order or direction to quash and set aside the impugned order dated 12.08.2024, passed by the Additional Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Raipur, which unjustly denied the reappointment of the Petitioner. 10.2 That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to 3 pass any appropriate writ, order or direction for the reappointment of the Petitioner as a Lecturer at Madhav Rao Sapre School, Raipur or any other suitable school, in accordance with the instructions issued by the Chhattisgarh Government on 30.01.2024. 10.3 In the alternative, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to pass any appropriate writ, order or direction to the Additional Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Raipur to expeditiously decide the representation dated 14.08.2024 made by the Petitioner, taking into account the facts that the Commerce subject is being taught at the school and that the Petitioner is eligible for reappointment. 10.4 That, this Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to pass any appropriate writ, order or direction to the Respondent Authorities to provide the Petitioner with the payment of any back wages or benefits that may have been denied to the Petitioner due to the wrongful denial of reappointment. 10.5 Any other relief or relief(s) which this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in view of the facts and circumstances of the case, may also kindly be granted.” 2. Brief facts of the case, is that, the petitioner was appointed to the 4 post of Lecturer at Nagar Nigam Madhav Rao Sapre Hindi Medium School, Budhapara, Raipur, Chhattisgarh and served in this capacity under the employment of the Municipal Corporation, Raipur. The petitioner was retired from his service on 30.06.2024 upon attaining the age of superannuation at 62 years. In the year 2022, under a scheme introduced by the Chhattisgarh Government, N.N. Madhav Rao Sapre School was converted into Swami Atmanand Excellent School. After this conversion, additional staff was appointed under the Atmanand scheme to work in the said school. The petitioner, along with seven other teachers, was retained at the school and continued to work alongside the newly appointed staff. Throughout this period, the petitioner received his salary for the services rendered at the school until his retirement. The school offered a Commerce subject, and the petitioner taught this subject during the academic session 2023-2024. The official timetable for the school, covering the academic session 2023-2024, duly signed by the Principal confirms that the petitioner was teaching the Commerce subject. For the academic session 2024-2025, the Commerce subject was allotted to another teacher in place of the petitioner. The official timetable for this session, duly signed by the Principal, confirms that the Commerce subject was offered by the school for the academic session 2024-2025 also. It is 5 important to highlight here that, the School Education Department of the State of Chhattisgarh (Respondent No. 1) issued instructions on 30.01.2024, mandating the reappointment of all government teachers until the end of the academic session. of 2024-2025. The Department had directed the Director of Public Instruction (Respondent No. 4) to implement these guidelines for the academic session of 2024-2025. This policy applied to all teachers, from Assistant Teacher to School Principal, in Government and 100% Grant-In-Aid Schools. As per these guidelines, reappointment was to be considered automatic unless a teacher explicitly refused in writing. On 07.02.2024, the School Education Department issued another directive to the Director, Directorate of Public Instruction, reiterating the instructions contained in the letter dated 30.01.2024 for taking actions for reappointment of teachers until the end of the academic session 2024-2025. Furthermore, the District Education Officer was designated as responsible for verifying attendance. On 24.05.2024, the petitioner submitted a letter to the Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation, Raipur, (Respondent No. 2) informing them of his upcoming retirement on 30.06.2024. The petitioner requested the issuance of an order for his reappointment, until the end of the academic session 2024-2025, in accordance with the State Government instructions outlined in 6 the letter dated 30.01.2024. Despite this request, the petitioner was retired on 30.06.2024, while the academic session for 2024- 2025 remained incomplete. The petitioner was not granted reappointment, unlike other similarly situated teachers in the state who received this benefit in line with the aforementioned government guidelines for reappointment. On 23.07.2024, the Principal of Madhav Rao School (Respondent No. 7) sent a letter to the Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation. In the letter, the Principal stated that the petitioner was considered surplus and recommended that the petitioner be transferred to another school under the Municipal Corporation if they were eligible for reappointment according to the relevant rules. On 24.07.2024, the Municipal Corporation of Raipur wrote a letter to the District Education Officer, Raipur (Respondent No. 5) regarding the reappointment of petitioner. This letter referenced the petitioner's earlier request dated 24.05.2024, sought its opinion on reappointment until the end of the academic session. On 30.07.2024, the District Education Officer communicated to the Municipal Corporation Raipur stating that the Madhav Rao Sapre School operated under the Swami Atmanand Excellent Schools but did not have an approved position for the Commerce subject. On 01.08.2024, the District Education Officer wrote to the Director of the Directorate of Public Instruction, seeking guidance 7 on the reappointment of petitioner. It cited the instructions issued under letter dated 30.01.2024, which outlined the reappointment of teachers until the end of the academic session. Subsequently, on 12.08.2024, the Additional Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation Raipur (Respondent No. 3) issued the impugned order stating that the petitioner, a lecturer in the commerce subject, would not be reappointed at N.N. Madhav Rao Sapre High School, Raipur. The impugned order alleged that the Commerce subject is not taught at the school, which operates as an Atmanand Excellence School, and that there is no approved position for a commerce lecturer in the setup. It is humbly submitted that this assertion in the impugned order is completely incorrect and contrary to the records. As already stated above, commerce subject is being taught in the said school. The official academic timetables, duly authorized by the school authorities for the academic sessions 2023-2024 and 2024-2025, also shows that the commerce subject is being taught, with another teacher currently filling the position left by the petitioner. On 14.08.2024, the petitioner submitted a representation to the Additional Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation, Raipur, (Respondent No. 3) and asserted that the commerce subject has been continuously taught at the school, including his instruction in class 11 during the previous academic year of 2023-2024 and 8 that it is currently being taught in both Class-11 and Class-12. In the representation, as an alternative prayer, the petitioner requested reappointment at any other school, citing past instances where the Raipur Municipal Corporation successfully reappointed Shri Loknath Chandrakar, who moved from R.D. Tiwari High School to Tikrapara High School, and Smt. Lata Shukla, who transitioned from Saraswati High School Nayapara to Tikrapara High School after their retirements. The petitioner also gave reference of the Chhattisgarh Government instructions dated 30.01.2024, which allowed for the reappointment of Smt. Sadhana Sahu after her retirement. 3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that School Education Department, State of Chhattisgarh, issued instructions on 30.01.2024 for reappointment of government teachers until the end of academic session 2024-2025, however, the petitioner has been denied for reappointment whereas the other similarly situated teachers were already reappointed. In the impugned order dated 12.08.2024, commerce subject is not being offered in the said school as such the petitioner who is a teacher of commerce cannot be reappointed. The petitioner submits that in the said school he was teaching commerce subject for the sessions 2023-24 and presently also it is being taught by another teacher in place of the petitioner as such the reasons assigned 9 for non granting reappointment order is incorrect and illegal in place of it. 4. On the other hand respondents No. 1 & 4 to 6/State have filed their return while denying the claim of the petitioner it has been stated that the order dated 12.08.2024 passed by the Additional Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Raipur is in accordance with law and it has been passed in accordance with law and there is no illegality. 5. Learned counsel for respondents No. 2 & 3 have not filed return. 6. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the material available on record. 7. In Swami Atmanand Madhavrao Sapre Excellent Hindi Medium Government Higher Secondary School, commerce subject is not being taught in academic session 2024-25 as such the petitioner who is a commerce teacher cannot be reappointed even after his retirement and even after circular of the State Government. If the subject of the petitioner itself is not being taught in the said school one cannot be reappointed in the said school . The reappointment can only be made if there is no any regular teacher is available and there are n number of students which are required to be taught. 8. In the present case, since the students of commerce subject are not available for the academic sessions 2024-25 as such the 10 petitioner has rightly not been reappointed and there is no illegality in the said order. One cannot be reappointed only on the basis of circulars/ order of any State Government, there must be reasons for reappointment after retirement. Reappointment is to be done only in the case of exception and exigency in the matter, if both are absent, no one can claim for his reappointment. 9. Taking into consideration the above discussed facts, I do not find any infirmity in the decision taken by the concerned authorities. Accordingly, this writ petition is devoid of merits and is hereby dismissed. Sd/- (Amitendra Kishore Prasad) Judge Raghu Jat