wp 6786-24.doc IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIRCUIT BENCH AT KOLHAPUR CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO. 6786 OF 2024 Balasaheb Laxman Salunkhe. ...Petitioner. Versus The State of Maharashtra and Others. ...Respondents. —————— Mr. Satish Raut and Aarya U. Ambulkar for the Petitioner. Mr. S. B. Kalel, AGP for the Respondent-State. —————— Coram : M. S. Karnik & Sharmila U. Deshmukh, JJ. Date : September 18, 2025. P. C. : 1. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith and by consent taken up for inal disposal. 2. The Petition impugns order dated 5th April 2023 passed by the Respondent No.2-Deputy Director of Education, Pune Division, Pune rejecting the proposal seeking approval to the appointment of Petitioner as Shikshan Sevak in the Respondent No.4-School 3. The Petitioner possesses the qualiication of M.A., B.Ed. and belongs to Open category. By order of 13th June 2013, the Petitioner was appointed as temporary teacher on Clock hour basis for a period of one year. The Petitioner continued his services on the temporary post of teacher on Clock hour basis every year from 2013 to 2021 and the Patil-SR 1 of 5 wp 6786-24.doc Respondent No.3 had granted approval to the appointment of Petitioner as temporary teacher every year. As one Mr. Pundalik Bhau Kolekar, permanent Assistant Teacher working on full-time aided post was due to retire on 31st May 2022, the Respondent No.4 issued an advertisement on 6th May 2022 for illing up the vacant post and also issued a request letter to the Respondent No.3 seeking its No- Objection for appointment of teacher from approved temporary post to full time aided post. There was no response to the said communication. After following due process, the Petitioner came to be appointed as Shikshan Sevak vide order dated 15th June 2022 with efect from 16th June 2022. 4. On 2nd March 2023, the Respondent No.5 sent the proposal to the Respondent No.2 seeking approval to the appointment of Petitioner as Shikshan Sevak on full-time basis from temporary teacher’s post along with all requisite documents. By the impugned order dated 5th April 2023, the said proposal came to be rejected on two grounds, namely, that the recruitment was not done through Pavitra Portal and that the appointment was efected during ban on recruitment process by Government Resolution dated 4th May 2020. 5. Learned Counsel for the Petitioner has taken this Court through the reasons set out in impugned order and would submit that insofar as the recruitment through Pavitra Portal is concerned, the issue is no Patil-SR 2 of 5 wp 6786-24.doc longer res integra and has been settled by the decision dated 23rd April 2025 of by this Court in Kalyansing Indrasing Rajput v. State of Maharashtra1 where the Co-ordinate Bench of this Court has recorded a factual inding that Pavitra Portal was not functional till June 2024 or even thereafter. He would further submit that insofar as the ban on recruitment is concerned, at the most, the Petitioner will not be entitled to salary and other monetary beneits from the State, for the period of ban, however, the same cannot constitute a ground for rejection of proposal of appointment of Petitioner. 6. Per contra, Mr. S. B. Kalel, learned AGP would support the impugned order and would submit that the Petitioner came to be appointed as full-time Shikshan Sevak during the period of ban on recruitment imposed by Government Resolution dated 4th May 2020 and therefore the proposal for the appointment of Petitioner has been rightly rejected by the Respondent No. 2. 7. The impugned order rejects the proposal on two grounds, irstly, that the recruitment process was not done through Pavitra portal and secondly that there was ban on recruitment imposed by Government Resolution dated 4th May 2020. 8. Insofar as the irst ground is concerned, the issue is no longer res integra and has been settled by the decision of the Co-ordinate Bench 1 Aurangabad Bench W.P. 10205 of 2024 decided on 23-4-2025. Patil-SR 3 of 5 wp 6786-24.doc of this Court in Kalyansing Indrasing Rajput v. State of Maharashtra (supra). There is a factual inding by the Co-ordinate bench that Pavitra Portal was not functional from 2017 until June 2024 and might be even thereafter. Though the Government Resolution dated 23rd June 2017 and judicial decisions mandate that recruitment process to be done through Pavitra Portal in order to aford equal opportunity in employment, due to non functioning of Pavitra Portal at the time when vacancy arose and Petitioner came to be appointed, approval to the appointment of Petitioner cannot be rejected on the ground that the recruitment process was not routed through Pavitra Portal. 9. Insofar as the second ground of appointment being made during the period of ban on recruitment imposed by Government Resolution dated 4th May 2020 is concerned, it is important to note that ban came to be imposed during Covid pandemic in order to ensure the inances of State Government are not strained by making fresh appointments. Learned Counsel for the Petitioner, on instructions, would submit that the Petitioner and Management will not claim salary or any other monetary beneits for the period 16th June 2022 till 1st November 2022, i.e., the date when the ban was lifted by State Government. In view of the said submission, the purpose of imposition of ban on recruitment is duly served as there will be no inancial burden on the State Exchequer. 10. In the light of said submission, the proposal for appointment of Patil-SR 4 of 5 wp 6786-24.doc Petitioner can be approved subject to the condition that the Petitioner / Management will not claim salary or any other monetary beneits from the State Government for the period 16th June 2022, i.e., from the date of appointment till 1st November 2022. 11. In the light of above, petition succeeds. The impugned order dated 5th April 2023 is hereby quashed and set aside. The Respondent No.2 is directed to grant approval to the appointment of Petitioner on full-time aided post of Shikshan Sevak w.e.f. 16th June 2022. The consequential beneits to be paid to the Petitioner from 2nd November 2022 onwards by the State Government. It will be the obligation of the management to make payment of salary and other beneits from date of appointment till 1st November 2022. 12. Rule is made absolute in above terms. [Sharmila U. Deshmukh, J.] [M. S. Karnik, J.] Patil-SR 5 of 5