HC asks education deputy director to probe documents in Nagpur teacher appointment dispute

The High Court has directed the deputy director of education to investigate the entire matter in a dispute over the appointment of a staff member in Nagpur. Justice Pravin Patil heard the petition filed by Amar Smriti Multipurpose Education Society and others, and expressed serious concern after the hearing.

The court has asked the deputy director to clarify three points. First, whether the proposal that the education officer submitted with an affidavit was actually sent to the education officer's office by the petitioner management. Second, whether entries relating to it were duly recorded in the office. Third, whether the documents attached to the proposal are genuine. A detailed report must be submitted by November 30.

At the root of the dispute is the appointment of an employee. The petitioner management claims that in 2009 the respondent employee was taken on in a temporary post in the school's unaided section. According to the management, she left the school soon afterwards. She then served at Raurandh Upper Primary School, Chaitanya Nagar, Nari, from July 2009 to May 2010 and again from July 2010 to September 2011.

The management says the employee was never appointed to its school, so the question of termination of service does not arise. The employee's position is the opposite. She filed an appeal before the School Tribunal and claimed that her appointment followed the correct procedure under the law. According to her, an advertisement was issued, an interview was held and the society's resolution was also passed.

In view of this dispute, the court on December 10, 2024 had directed both the petitioner management and the education officer to clarify the factual position. In compliance, the education officer on December 18, 2024 filed, with an affidavit, the proposal which, according to the officer, the petitioner had sent to the office. All related documents, including the society's resolution and a copy of the advertisement, were attached.

The management then filed its own affidavit on January 23, 2025, and raised doubts about the recruitment advertisement. According to the management, the advertisement attached to that letter appears to be from 2003. The management says the document appears to have been created in a suspicious manner and cannot be relied upon. The deputy director of education will now examine these questions, and the court will decide its next step on the basis of the report.