The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Wednesday held that GO No. 610 of 1985 and GO. No 674 of 2007 are not ultra vires the Presidential Order and are valid.
A division bench comprising Justice V Eswaraiah and Justice N Ravi Shankar, while partly allowing a batch of writ petitions by teachers challenging the orders of the AP Administrative Tribunal dismissing their applications, declared that the GOs, which provide for repatriation of certain government employees back to their native zones, are valid.
The court also ruled that the GO 674 can be given retrospective effect with regard to transfer of teachers working in government schools and schools under local authorities by applying only 70 per cent reservations in vacancies for local candidates and 30 per cent for open competition in all recruitments made and finalised prior to June 1, 2001.
The state government had brought out the GO 610 based on a representation of the Telangana Non-Gazetted Officers’ Union, by complaining that certain allotments have been made in violation of the provisions of the Presidential Order.
The government issued the GO 674 dated Sept 7, 2007 to review the appointments of Special Grade Teachers in the ratio of 80 per cent for the locals and 20 per cent for the open category
Hundreds of teachers and employees of various departments had moved the AP Administrative Tribunal challenging their repatriation from Telangana and Hyderabad to their native zones under GO 610.
The Tribunal had upheld the decision of the state government in repatriating more than 20,000 employees of different cadres under GO 610.
Then the employees moved the High Courta and in May this year, a vacation bench of the AP High Court ordered status quo with regard to the state government implementing GO 610, but restricted relief to the petitioners who moved the High Court.
The bench on Wednesday granted partial relief to the teachers and dismissed petitions of other employees.
Referring to certain amendments brought to the Presidential Order by the state government through GO No 2 pertaining to teachers posts, the bench said, “We hold that GO No 8 and 124 (new selection method) and GO 674 can be given retrospective effect by applying only 70 per cent reservations in vacancies for local candidates and 30 per cent for open competition in respect of teachers posts alone for all recruitments made prior to June 1, 2001.
” The bench ruled to apply 20 per cent reservation for open competition and 80 per cent reservation for locals for selections made and finalised subsequent to June 1, 2001, if such reservations were not applied subsequent to the said date for any reason till the issuance of GO 674.
The bench said that the transfers relating to teachers must be set aside and remanding those matters back to concerned educational authorities to redraw the list in accordance with the findings above.
Referring to the appointment of a one man commission headed by a retired High Court judge to review the grievances relating to implementation of the Presidential Order and the concession granted to visually handicapped and hearing handicapped persons and cases of spouses in implementing the GO 610, the bench said that the petitioners, after joining their new stations, can make their representation to the commission.