writ petitioners in all these Writ Petitions is the action of the official respondents in not permitting the petitioners-institutions to fill up the vacant aided posts in their institutions in accordance with law.

HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE K.SURESH REDDY

Writ Petition Nos.30927, 2888, 4938, 8014, 8197, 30548, 31010,

31039, 31730, 33163, 35592, 37415, 37467,

37508, 38250, 38924, 40923 and 42367 of 2022

C O M M O N O R D E R:-

As the issue involved in all these writ petitions is inter-related,

all these writ petitions are taken up together and are disposed of

through this common order.

 2. The petitioners in these cases are the management of

private Schools. The grievance of the writ petitioners in all these Writ

Petitions is the action of the official respondents in not permitting the

petitioners-institutions to fill up the vacant aided posts in their

institutions in accordance with law.

 3. Facts in nutshell :

 All the petitioners-Institutions are private aided schools.

All the institutions got recognition and thereafter, some posts have

admitted into Grant-in-aid by the Government. The appointment of

staff in the Aided institutions is governed by Rule-12 of G.O.Ms.No.1,

Education, dated 01.01.1994. As per the terms in the said G.O., as and

when vacancy arises, the Management shall make an application to the

Competent authority, who in turn would grant permission to the

2023:APHC:1120

 2

Management to constitute staff selection committee consisting of

nominee of District Educational Officer (DEO) as well as the subject

experts. Thereafter, the Management is free to make appoint from

among the selected candidates after following procedure of giving

notification in newspaper and also drafting the candidates from

concerned employment exchange.

 (ii) Subsequently, the government issued a memo, dated

20.10.2004 imposing ban on recruitment of staff into Aided institutions.

Thereafter, batch of Writ Petitions were filed i.e., W.P.No.9503 of

2005 and batch. After elaborate hearing, all the writ petitions were

allowed and the ban imposed by the State government was set aside,

vide common order, dated 30.07.2013. Thereafter, the Government

filed Writ Appeal No.216 of 2014, which was also dismissed by the

Division Bench of this Court. Subsequently, the Government preferred

appeal in S.L.P.No.8547 of 2014 before the Hon’ble Supreme Court of

India, which was also dismissed on 14.09.2015. As there is no other go,

the Government issued memo, vide Memo No.18836/SC.PS/A1/2012,

dated 04.01.2017 permitting the Aided Institutions, who approached

the Court to fill up the vacant posts by lifting the ban.

 (iii) Subsequently, the government issued G.O.Ms.No.40,

School Education (PS) Department, dated 30.06.2017 and as per the

2023:APHC:1120

 3

said G.O., the Commissioner of School Education has issued

proceedings in Rc.No.90/PS-1/2010-3, dated 20.07.2017 directing all

the Regional Joint Directors of School Education and District

Educational Officers to take necessary action in filling up all the

vacancies in the schools. As per the said G.O., and consequential

proceedings of the 2nd respondent, dated 20.07.2017, all the

petitioners-institutions requested the Competent authorities to permit

them to fill up the vacant posts and to that effect, they made

applications on various dates to the respective competent authorities.

(iv) Subsequently, as per the instructions of the Government,

the 2nd respondent once again issued proceedings, dated 12.09.2017

keeping the recruitment in abeyance. Subsequently, the said

proceedings were challenged in W.P.No.1041 of 2018 and this Court

suspended the said abeyance proceedings, vide orders in I.A.No.1 of

2018 in W.P.No.1041 of 2018, dated 29.02.2020. Thereafter, all the

petitioners-institutions made several applications to the Competent

authorities seeking permission to fill up vacancies in Aided Schools.

Till now, the Competent authorities did not take any decision or

granted permission to fill the vacancies in Aided Schools. Aggrieved by

the same, all these writ petitioners have come up with the batch of

Writ Petitions.

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 4

 4. Perused the entire material on record. This Court has also

passed interim orders in most of the Writ Petitions directing the

Competent authorities to permit the petitioners-Institutions to fill up

vacancies in Aided Schools by considering the proposal submitted by

them. In spite of interim orders, the Competent authorities have not

permitted the petitioners-institutions to fill up the vacancies.

Consequently, some of the petitioners-institutions filed contempt cases

before this Court and they are pending.

 5. Learned Government Pleader for School Education filed

counter-affidavit, inter alia contending that Aided schools should

maintain teacher-student ratio as 1:40 for filling up of vacancies and

that the petitioners-institutions have to fill up vacancies in Aided

schools as per the provisions prescribed under Rule 12(3)(A) of

G.O.Ms.No.1, Education (PS2) Department, dated 01.01.1994.

 6. Sri N.Subba Rao, learned Senior Counsel, scrupulously

submitted that so far as the contention of the official respondents with

regard to teacher-student ratio is concerned, the same is governed by

the schedule prescribed under Sections 19 & 25 of the Right of Children

to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (for short, ‘the Act of

2009). For better appreciation, the said Schedule is extracted

hereunder :

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 5

THE SCHEDULE

(See Sections 19 and 25 )

Norms and Standards for a School

Sl.No. Item Norms and Standards

Number of teachers Admitted children Number of teachers

(a) For First

class to 5th

Class

Up to Sixty

Between sixty-one to ninety

Between Ninety one to one

hundred and twenty

Between one hundred and

twenty one to two hundred

Above one hundred and fifty

Children

Above two hundred Children

Two

 Three

 Four

 Five

Five Plus one

Head Teacher

Pupil-Teacher

Ratio (excluding Head

Teacher) shall not exceed

forty.

(b) For Sixth

class to

eight class

(1) At least one teacher per

class so that there shall be

at least one teacher each

for –

(i) Science and

Mathematics ;

(ii) Social Studies ;

(iii) Languages

(2) At least one teacher for

every thirty-five children

(3) Where admission of

children is above one

hundred—

(i) A full time headteacher

(ii) Part time instructors

for

(A)Art Education

(B) Health and

Physical

Education

(C) Work Education

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 6

 7. As such this being the Central Enactment, the State

government is bound to follow the said Schedule. Further, so far as

Rule-12(3)(A) of the Rules, 1993 is concerned, the petitionerinstitutions have no objection to follow the Rule 12(3)(A) of the

Rules,1993. For better appreciation of the said provision, the same is

extracted hereunder :

12.Appointment of Staff :-

“Rule 12(3A) : Before filling up of the aided teaching or

non-teaching posts, the educational agency shall

necessarily obtain clearance from the Competent

authority, to the effect that, there are no surplus posts in

the concerned district, and if there are suitable surplus

candidates, they should be deployed against the said

vacancies as per the subject requirements. The

competent authority shall however obtain the permission

from the Government before issuing clearance for filling

up of any aided posts”.

 8. As per Rule 12 (3A) of the above said Rules, vacancies will

be filled up by surplus candidates. At this juncture, learned Senior

Counsel states that respondent authorities are not sending surplus

candidates and they are sending candidates only by way of adjustment

and thereafter, recalling them, which happened in many cases. At this

juncture, this Court directed the learned Government Pleader to

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 7

inform the stand of the Government with regard to sub-rule 3(A) of

Rule 12. In such circumstances, learned Government Pleader filed

affidavit of the Commissioner of School Education. Para-5 of the said

affidavit reads as follows :

“…..Further to submit that instructions were

issued to all the Regional Joint Directors of

School Education and District Educational

Officers with a request to identify the

surplus teachers/ existing teachers of

defunct aided schools as per Rule 10(12) in

G.O.Ms.No.1, Education, dated 01.01.1994

and transfer the surplus teachers as per

Rule 10 (17) in G.O.Ms.No.1, Education,

dated 01.01.1994 on a permanent basis

and the same is under process”.

 9. In view of the above stand taken by the Government, all

the Writ Petitions are disposed of with the following directions :

i) The respondent-authorities are hereby directed to permit

the petitioners-institutions to fill up all the Aided

vacancies in terms of G.O.Ms.No.1, Education, dated

01.01.1994 and also as per the Schedule prescribed under

Sections 19 & 25 of the Act,2009 ;

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 8

ii) In future also, whenever vacancies arise, the institutions

have to make applications to the Competent authorities

for filling up the vacancies ;

iii) On such applications, the Competent authorities shall

inform the institution about the availability of qualified

surplus staff, within a period of four (04) weeks from the

date of application and allot said surplus staff on

permanent basis ;

iv) If surplus staff are not available, the Competent authority

shall inform the same and permit the petitionersinstitutions to fill up the vacancies in accordance with the

above said Rule, preferably within a period of two (02)

months ;

v) So far as minority institutions are concerned, the above

procedure is not applicable insofar as allotment of surplus

staff are concerned, in view of the Judgments of Division

Bench of this Court rendered in Modern High School,

Zamisthanpur V. Government of Andhra Pradesh

and Others1 and Ester Axene Res. High School

and Others V. State of Andhra Pradesh and

Others2.

1

 2002 (1) ALD 96

2

 MANU/AP/0045/2019

2023:APHC:1120

 9

vi) The entire exercise shall be completed by the

respondent-authorities within a period of three (03)

months from the date of receipt of a copy of this order ;

 No order as to costs.

 Miscellaneous Petitions, if any, pending in this writ petition shall

stand closed.

_______________

K.SURESH REDDY,J

5

th day of January,2023.

Note : LR Copy to be marked

 B/o

 RPD

2023:APHC:1120

 10

HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE K. SURESH REDDY

Writ Petition Nos.30927, 2888, 4938, 8014, 8197, 30548, 31010,

 31039, 31730, 33163, 35592, 37415, 37467,

 37508, 38250, 38924, 40923 and 42367 of 2022

Dated: 05.01.2023

Note : LR Copy to be marked

 B/o

 RPD

2023:APHC:1120

 11

IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI

****

WRIT PETITION Nos.30927 of 2022 and Batch

Between:

P.L.K.Aided Elementary School

Rep. by its Correspondent Smt.B.Mercy Bai

Palakole, West Godavari District

Andhra Pradesh. ---Petitioner

And

The State of Andhra Pradesh

Department of School Education

4

th Block, 1st Floor, Room No.267

Secretariat Buildings, Thullur

Velagapudi, Guntur District-522 501

Represented by its Principal Secretary & three others

 ----Respondents

DATE OF ORDER PRONOUNCED : 05.01.2023

SUBMITTED FOR APPROVAL :

THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE K.SURESH REDDY

1. Whether the copy of order may be

marked to Law Reporters/Journals? Yes

2. Whether His Lordship wish to

see the fair copy of the order? Yes

______________________________

2023:APHC:1120

 12

 K.SURESH REDDY, J.

* THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE K.SURESH REDDY

+WRIT PETITION Nos.30927 of 2022 and Batch

% 05.01.2023

# Between:

P.L.K.Aided Elementary School

Rep. by its Correspondent Smt.B.Mercy Bai

Palakole, West Godavari District

Andhra Pradesh. ---Petitioner

And

The State of Andhra Pradesh

Department of School Education

4

th Block, 1st Floor, Room No.267

Secretariat Buildings, Thullur

Velagapudi, Guntur District-522 501

Represented by its Principal Secretary & three others

 ----Respondents

! Counsel for the Petitioner : Sri N.Subba Rao

^ Counsel for the Respondent : GP for School Education

< Gist:

> Head Note:

? Cases referred:

1. 2002 (1) ALD 96

2. MANU/AP/0045/2019

2023:APHC:1120