BENGALURU: Observing that providing age-based exemption in the transfer of teachers is an established practice, and the decision-making authority should consider such reasonable, legitimate and valid requests of teachers while making transfers, the Karnataka High Court dismissed two petitions filed by the Department of School Education and Literacy. It questioned the order passed by the Karnataka State Administrative Tribunal, which quashed the transfer of two female teachers, identifying them as excess, despite them having attained 55 years and 58 years, respectively.
“The crux of the case is that provision of Section 10(1)(vi) of the Karnataka State Civil Services (Regulation of Transfer of Teachers) Act, 2020, gives exemption from being considered as excess to female teachers who have crossed 50 years, and male teachers over 55 years. The petitioners had made their representations on the basis of these statutory provisions. Admittedly, the women petitioners had crossed the age of 50 years and were entitled to the benefit of Section 10(1)(vi). They could not have been declared as excess, and the impugned order of transfer could not have been issued,” the division bench of Chief Justice NV Anjaria and Justice SG Pandit said, dismissing the petitions.
The Department of School Education and Literacy challenged the order dated September 29, 2023, passed by the Tribunal at Belagavi, allowing the applications filed by Umadevi Hundekar (55), special teacher at Government High School in Budihal of Bagalkot district, and Prabhavati Ronad (58), teacher at VM Government High School in Teggi taluk of the same district. They were questioning the orders dated June 21 and 20, 2023, by the Deputy Director of Public Instructions, transferring them on the ground that they were surplus teachers, without considering their requests for exemption, as per law.