HYDERABAD: In a setback to the Telangana government, a division bench of the High Court on Tuesday set aside the amended Presidential Order of June 23, 2017 whereunder the services of teachers working in local bodies were integrated with teachers working in government schools (giving nod for unified service rules for teachers).
“Sub-paragraph (2A), inserted in paragraph-3 of Presidential Order 1975, is ultra vires of the power conferred by Clause (1) of Article 371D of the Constitution and is beyond the purview of different aspects indicated in sub-clauses (a) (b) and (c) of clause (2) of Article 371D. Similarly, Entry 23A, inserted in the Third Schedule of the Presidential Order inasmuch as the same places of mandal educational officer, headmaster and headmistresses in government and zilla parishad high schools in the same class, is ultra vires of Article 371D. While there is power conferred by Article 371D to organise any class or classes of posts, no power of integration or merger of cadres is expressly or impliedly conferred by Article 371D(1)”, the bench said while allowing the petitions and setting aside the impugned Presidential Order.
The bench, comprising Chief Justice Thottathil B Radhakrishnan and Justice V Ramasubramanian, passed this order on petitions filed by Telangana State Government Teachers Association and others challenging the amended Presidential Order dated June 23, 2017 and para 2A of the AP public employment order 1975 which was issued following the Presidential Order.
The bench said that clause (1) of Article 371D confers power on the President to make provisions, by order, in the matter of public employment and education and clause (2) pinpoints three specific aspects to be covered in the Presidential Order, namely (i) local cadre, (ii) local area and (iii) local candidate. In fact, Article 371D does not speak about the integration of any cadre. Even paragraph 3 of the Presidential Order, 1975 does not empower the state government to integrate different classes of posts, it noted.The bench made it clear that neither Article 371-D nor the Presidential Order, 1975 speaks about the integration of two different cadres.