M. Katju, J.:— This writ petition alongwith writ petition Nos. 12834 of 1995; 12891 of 1995; 13625 of 1995; 13240 of 1995; 14257 of 1995; 13638 of 1995 and 11963 of 1994 are being disposed of by a common judgment as they involve a common question of law.
2. The petitioner in writ petition No. 13109 of 1995; Surendra Kumar Dixit was appointed on a short term vacancy as Assistant Teacher in L.T grade in Sri Moti Lal Inter College, Saiyan, Agra on account of promotion of Ram Kishore Sharma as Lecturer. The petitioner's appointment was done after advertising the vacancy in a Hindi newspaper called ‘Swaraj Times’ on 14.7.94 vide paragraph 6 to the petition. Annexure 2 is a photostat copy of the relevant advertisement. The grievance of the petitioner is that in pursuance of his appointment letter dated 1.8.94 he joined duty on 2.8.94 and his papers were sent to the District Inspector of Schools, Agra but no order has been passed on the same by the District Inspector of Schools and he has not received any salary despite several representations. In my opinion this writ petition deserves to be dismissed and the appointment of petitioner should be cancelled on a short ground. It has been held by a Full Bench of this Court in Radha Raizada v. Committee of Management . 1994 3 UPLBEC 1551 vide para 43. that even a short term vacancy has to be advertised in a newspaper and it cannot be filled up by notifying the same on the notice board of the institution. In my opinion the newspaper in which the vacancy has to be advertised should be a well known newspaper having wide circulation so that the best candidates may have an opportunity to apply. In a Division Bench decision of this Court in the case of Lalluji & Sons v. State of U.P . Writ Petition No. 41992 of 1993. decided on 16-12-93 it has been held that publication must be in a well known newspaper having wide circulation, and the advertisement in a newspaper having little or no circulation cannot be of any avail to the petitioner.
3. It is well known that in the State of Uttar Pradesh several fraudulent newspapers have aprung up in almost every city and these newspapers have very little circulation and they publish only a few copies with the intention of creating an impression that the vacancy or auction was advertised (in case there is any challenge to the same). Very often it happens that even these few newspaper copies carrying the so called advertisement are either not distributed or sold, or the relevant page is removed before distribution or sale. This nefarious practice has become so widespread that now the time has come when it must be stopped. There are well known Hindi newspapers e.g Dainik Jagran, Aaj, Amar Ujala, Swatantra Bharat, Nav Bharat Times etc., and well known English newspapers like Times of India, Pioneer, etc., having wide circulation in the State of Uttar Pradesh and it is surprising that in almost all the cases which have come up before this court the vacancies are not advertised in these well known newspapers which have wide circulation but they are advertised in some fraudulent or unknown newspapers having little or no circulation.
4. In almost all the cases which have come up before this Court a little probe will easily reveal that the selection of teachers was done with a pre-determined mind, and the selection was only a farce and the candidate selected belonged either to the caste or community of the Manager or some influential person or his near relation or friend. Thus these appointments of teachers are not made on merit but rather on the basis of caste or community or nepotism or favouritism. In my opinion this country can only progress if atleast the educated section of society starts thinking about the interest of the nation and society as a whole, instead of just thinking of one's own caste, creed or relations. In the field of education particularly the best candidates should be selected as a teacher because it is not a question of only giving employment to a person it is even more a question of the future of thousands of children who study in that school or college. Appointments of incompetent persons may create havoc with the lives of thousands of children because if the Guru is an incompetent person the likelihood is that the students will also be likewise. Education is a very important matter for the development of the country and the future of the children cannot be allowed to be jeopardized by making appointments of incompetent persons as teachers. In all these cases which have come up before this Court the vacancy has not been advertised properly, and this appears to have been done deliberately with the intention to avoid applications by the best candidates so as to make appointment of a person belonging to one's own caste or creed, or of some relation of some influential person. If advertisements are made in well known newspapers having wide circulation, naturally excellent candidates will apply, but it seems to me that in U.P many managements are not interested in having good teachers but only teachers of their own caste or creed, or who are relatives of some influential persons. Hence the advertisement is made in the newspapers having little or no circulation and in my opinion this is only an illegal back door entry.
5. The Full Bench decision in Radha Raizada (Supra) has held that if the notice of short term vacancy is only put up on the notice board of the Institution and is not advertised in the newspapers it will throw open the door to manipulation and nepotism. In my opinion the ratio of the said decision will also apply where the vacancy was advertised in a newspaper having little or no circulation.
6. In this connection I may mention that the importance of good teacher cannot be under estimated. If the teacher is good he can create interest in the topic and can bring out the best potential of child and make him flower. Without a good teacher hardly any child can progress. There are hundreds of thousands of bright children in Uttar Pradesh who are unable to make much headway in their studies for lack of a good teacher.
7. About the importance of a teacher the great Hindi Poet Kabir has written:
8. Which means that a Guru can even take one to God (i.e help achieve the highest attainments).
9. I may mention that in our literature a Guru has always been held in very high respect, and has been given the highest place.
10. In Shanti Parva of Mahabharta Bhishma Pitamah tells Yudhisthir that a Guru is superior even to the parents.
(Vide Shantiparva 109 : 16 and 17)
11. The above shloka that the teacher is superior to the parents because while the parents give birth only to one's physical body, the birth which the Guru gives (by his teachings) is divine and immortal.
12. Today our country is facing great difficulties and in my opinion education is one of the important ways for resolving these difficulties. Unless good persons are appointed as teacher the country cannot progress because children will not get good education. Thus the time has come now when we must start looking after the interest and welfare of the nation and society as a whole, and not think only in a petty way of one's own caste, creed or relations.
13. In Unnikrishnan v. State the Supreme Court held that the right to receive education at least upto the age of 14 years is a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution. The Supreme Court held that the right to life contained in Article 21 means the right to a dignified life, and not mere animal life, and hence it includes the right to get education. In my opinion the ratio of this decision should be extended to mean that one has a right to get good quality education, and not any kind of education. Thus in my opinion every child has a fundamental right to get good quality education, and it is obvious that he cannot get it if the teachers are not competent.
14. The value of education for a dignified life has been described by the great Sanskrit poet Bhartrihari in his Neetishatak in the following words:
15. These shlokas mean that education is the beauty and secret wealth of a man. Education gives comforts, fame and happiness, and it is the guru of gurus. On a foreign travel education is one's friend, and it is Supreme God. Even kings worship education, not wealth. An uneducated man is merely an animal.
16. It is therefore evident that good education is of paramount importance for the progress of the nation, and for this purpose the best qualified persons in society should be appointed as teachers. This can only be done if the vacancies are widely publicized so that the best candidates can get a chance to apply.
17. In all these petitions the burden was on the petitioners to show that the newspapers in which their vacancies were advertised are well known newspapers having wide circulation, but they have failed to discharge this burden.
18. In the present case there is no material to show that the Hindi newspaper ‘Swaraj Times’ has wide circulation, and hence in my opinion the vacancy was not properly advertised. The petitioner's appointment was hence illegal. The writ petition is consequently dismissed, but it is open to the management to make a fresh selection after advertising the vacancy in at least two well known newspapers having wide circulation.
19. In Writ Petition No. 12834 of 1995, Rakesh Nath Tewari v. D.I.O.S, Allahabad the vacancy was advertised in some newspaper called ‘Standard News’ purporting to be published from Allahabad photostat copy of which is Annexure 2 to the petition. I may mention that I have lived in Allahabad for almost my whole life and I have never heard of any newspaper of the name ‘Standard News’, I can take judicial notice of this fact. Hence in my opinion the petitioner has failed to discharge his burden that his appointment was made after advertising the vacancy in a well known newspaper having wide circulation. This petition is also dismissed.
20. In Writ Petition No. 12891 of 1995 Jai Prakash Chaubey v. D.I.O.S Jaunpur the vacancy was advertised in a newspaper called ‘Dainik Samachar’, photostat copy of which is Annexure 1. The petitioner has failed to discharge his burden that Dainik Samachar is a well known newspaper having wide circulation. In fact the same does not even look like a newspaper (as is evident from a perusal of Annexure 1). Hence the petitioner's appointment is illegal for the same reason as mentioned above. The writ petition is dismissed.
21. In Writ Petition No. 13625 of 1995 Sunil Dutt Rai v. D.I.O.S the vacancies were advertised in a newspaper called ‘Suraj Times’, relevant extract of which is Annexure 2 to the petition. A perusal of Annexure 2 discloses that the same does not even look like a newspaper. In my opinion the petitioner's appointment is illegal as he has failed to discharge his burden that the vacancy was properly advertised. The writ petition is dismissed.
22. In Writ Petition No. 13240 of 1995 Javed Hasan v. D.I.O.S, the vacancy was advertised in a newspaper called Moradabad Times, photostat copy of which is Annexure II-A to the petition. A perusal of the same shows that it does not even look like a newspaper. Thus the petitioner's appointment was illegal, as he has failed to discharge his burden that the vacancy was properly advertised. The writ petition is dismissed.
23. In Writ Petition No. 14257 of 1995, Bhojbir Singh v. D.I.O.S it is stated in para 5 that the advertisement was published in a newspaper dated 1.2.95 but the name of the said newspaper has not been mentioned. Annexure 1 to the writ petition purports to be photostat copy of the advertisement but this also does not mention the name of the newspaper. When I asked the learned counsel for the petitioner as to in which newspaper the vacancy has been advertised he could not reply to the same. It is evident that the vacancy was not advertised in a well known newspaper having wide circulation. Hence the appointment of the petitioner is illegal. This writ petition is dismissed.
24. In Writ Petition No. 13638 of 1995 Haripal Singh v. D.I.O.S, it is stated in para 3 that the vacancy was advertised in a local newspaper but the name of the newspaper has not been mentioned. It is evident that the vacancy was not advertised in any newspaper having wide circulation and hence the petitioner's appointment was illegal. The writ petition is dismissed.
25. In writ Petition No. 11963 of 1994 Kshama Shankar Pandey v. D.I.O.S, Kanpur Nagar there is not even an allegation that the vacancy was advertised in a newspaper. However, learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the vacancy was notified on the notice board of the institution and he relied upon Rule 2(3) of the U.P Secondary Education Service Commission (Removal of Difficulties) Order, 1991. This rule has been considered by the Full Bench in Radha Raizada's case (supra) and yet the Full Bench has held that merely notifying the vacancy on the notice board of the institution is not sufficient and it must also be advertised in some newspapers, which in my opinion means newspapers having wide circulation. Thus in my opinion, the petitioner's appointment was not valid and consequently this writ petition is dismissed.
26. I may mention that many of the newspapers in which the vacancy was published claim to be registered newspapers, but in my opinion this will make no difference when the said newspaper has little or no circulation. It seems that the persons who publish such fraudulent newspapers get them registered so as to enable them to say in their defence (if these advertisements are challenged) that they are registered newspapers. In my opinion, registration of a newspaper does not mean that the newspaper is a well known newspaper having wide circulation. Even fraudulent newspapers can be got registered by paying the requisite fees and complying with the legal formalities. Hence this contention is of no avail to the petitioners.
27. Some of the learned counsels for the petitioners have contended that the petitioners are not to blame if the committee of management got the vacancies published in such fraudulent newspapers. I cannot accept this contention. It is evident that the committees of management in these cases had decided beforehand to select a particular candidate, and the advertisement and the selection was only a farce and there was collusion between the selectors and the candidate. At any event even assuming there was no such collusion, this court has also to think about the welfare of society and the nation, and in particular of the children studying in these institutions whose lives cannot be allowed to be jeopardised by making selections and appointments in this illegal manner.
28. Some learned counsels for the petitioners contended that the rule in Radha Raizada's case (supra) should be made applicable prospectively, that is, it should not apply to appointments made before the said decision. I cannot agree with this contention. It is settled law that while legislative enactments are ordinarily prospective unless expressly made retrospective, judicial verdicts are retrospective unless expressly made prospective. A judicial verdict is only declaratory of the law, and hence what it lays down must be deemed to have been the law always. The Full Bench in Radha Raizada's case has nowhere mentioned that its verdict shall only operate prospectively. Hence it will also operate retrospectively. In view of the fact that widespread irregularities are going on in this State regarding appointments of teachers I direct that the Secretary, Education Department, U.P shall forthwith issue a circular to all the District Inspectors of Schools/Regional Inspectresses of Girls Schools/Basic Shiksha Adhikaris that in future no appointment of a teacher should be approved unless it was made after the vacancy (whether permanent or short term) was advertised in atleast one Hindi newspaper and atleast one English newspaper which are well known and having wide circulation in the State.
29. Let the Registrar of this Court send a copy of this judgment to the Secretary, Education Department, U.P Govt., Lucknow at the earliest.
30. Petition Dismissed.