SRI.RAMANJANEYA NINGAPPA HALLUR vs STATE OF KARNATAKA
- Court
- Karnataka High Court
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU
TH
DATED THIS THE 29 DAY OF OCTOBER, 2026
BEFORE
THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE S SUNIL DUTT YADAV
WRIT PETITION NO. 1427 OF 2026 (S-RES)
BETWEEN:
1.
SRI.RAMANJANEYA NINGAPPA HALLUR
S/O THE LATE NINGAPPA HALLUR
AGED ABOUT 65 YEARS
RETIRED LECTURER IN CIVIL ENGINEERING
D.V.S.POLYTECHNICAL SHIVAMOGGA
NOW RESIDING AT C-135, 1ST FLOOR
BRIGADE SYMPHONY KRS ROAD
OPP. TO COASTAL GARDEN
METAGALLI POST
MYSURU - 570 016
… PETITIONER
Digitally
signed by
VIDYA G R
Location:
HIGH
COURT OF
KARNATAKA
(BY SRI. JANARDHANA G., ADVOCATE)
AND:
1. STATE OF KARNATAKA
MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION
REP. BY ITS SECRETARY
VIDHANA SOUDHA
BANGALORE - 560 001
2. THE COMMISSIONER FOR COLLEGIATE
AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION
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GOVERNMENT OF KARNATAKA
SESHADRI ROAD
BENGALURU - 560 001
3. THE DIRECTOR OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION
PALACE ROAD
BENGALURU - 560 001
4.
THE SECRETARY
DSHIYA VIDYA SHALE SAMITI (R)
SIR K.V.ROAD
BASAVESHWARA CIRCLE
SHIVAMOGGA - 577 201
5.
THE PRINCIPAL
DVS POLYTEHNICAL COLLEGE
SHIVAMOGGA - 577 201
… RESPONDENTS
(BY SMT. ASHVINI PATIL, AGA FOR R1 TO R3;
SRI S.V. PRAKASH, ADVOCATE FOR R4 AND R5)
THIS W.P. IS FILED UNDER ARTICLES 226 AND 227 OF
THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA, PRAYING TO QUASH ACT-
7/2014, THE KARNATAKA PRIVATE AIDED EDUCATIONAL
INSTITUTIONS EMPLOYEES (REGULATION OF PAY, PENSION
AND OTHER BENEFITS) ACT, 2014 VIDE ANNEXURE-F
PUBLISHED IN KARNATAKA GAZETTE EXTRAORDINARY NO.243
DATED 27.3.2014 AND ALSO ACT-4 / 2015 CALLED
KARNATAKA EDUCATION (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2014 UNDER
ANNEXURE-F1 PUBLISHED IN KARNATAKA GAZETTE
EXTRAORDINARY NO.31 DATED 9.1.2015 AND ETC.
THIS PETITION, COMING ON FOR PRELIMINARY
HEARING, THIS DAY, ORDER WAS MADE THEREIN AS UNDER:
CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE S SUNIL DUTT YADAV
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ORAL ORDER
The petitioner who had joined the service with
respondent No.5 - D.V.S. Polytechnical College as Lecturer
in Civil Engineering has called in question the validity of
Act-7 of 2014, viz., Karnataka Private Aided Educational
Institutions Employees (Regulation of Pay, Pension and
Other Benefits) Act, 2014 [Annexure-'F'] as also Act-4 of
2015, viz., Karnataka Education (Amendment) Act, 2014
[Annexure-F1]. The petitioner has also challenged the
order at Annexure-'E' dated 24.05.2024, whereby the
respondent Authority has ordered that the petitioner's post
would be admitted to grant-in-aid with effect from
03.08.2017, while rejecting the request of the petitioner
that the date for approval of grant-in-aid must be as on
29.01.2011. The petitioner has further sought for a
direction for extension of benefits in terms of the order
passed in W.P.No.21216/2014 and connected petitions.
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2. It is the case made out by the petitioner that
while admitting the posts to grant-in-aid to respondent
No.5 - College in light of the petitioner having faced
disciplinary proceedings, the name of the petitioner was
left out, while approval for grant-in-aid to the other posts
of other staff of the same Institution was granted on
29.01.2011.
3. It is further made out that the disciplinary
proceedings against the petitioner were dropped.
Subsequently, the petitioner had sought for extension of
grant-in-aid insofar as his case is concerned from the
same date, i.e., 29.01.2011. The petitioner submits that
he had approached this Court in W.P.No.33139/2018
seeking extension of grant-in-aid for the petitioner with
effect from 29.01.2011 instead of 03.08.2017. The said
writ petition was called along with W.P.No.23266/2018
and disposed of by a common order dated 06.07.2021.
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The relevant observations in the said decision from
para-11 onwards are extracted as hereinbelow:-
"11. I have given my anxious consideration to the
respective submissions made by the learned counsel
and perused the material on record.
11.1. In furtherance thereof, the only
issue that falls for my consideration is
whether the petitioners are entitled to come
within the ambit of grant from the date on
which all other staff members in the
Institute were brought under grant-in-aid by
the State on 29.01.2011.
12. It is not in dispute when the staffing pattern
was sent for its approval to be brought under the
grant-in-aid disciplinary proceedings were pending
against the petitioner and they were placed under
suspension. It is also not in dispute that the
allegations against the petitioners were found to be
baseless and they were not held guilty by the
Enquiry Officer, which the competent authority
accepted and closed the issue. Therefore, the
petitioners came out blemishless in the enquiry,
which would clearly mean that there was no
proceeding in law against them at the time when the
initial proposal was sent for grant-in-aid.
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13. The re-proposal sent on 2014 was approved on
03.08.2017 by the Government prospectively and
not retrospectively. This in my considered view is
erroneous on the part of the State as the petitioners
having been exonerated of the allegations and the
same being accepted by the Government, could not
have brought the petitioners under the ambit of
grants with a prospective date. The petitioners were
entitled to be brought within the ambit of grants
from the date on which the other staff members, who
are working with the petitioners were brought under
the grant-in-aid on 29.01.2011.
14. For the aforesaid reasons, the following:
ORDER
i. The writ petition is allowed.
ii. The mandamus is issued to the State to
reconsider the cases of the petitioners for bringing
them under the ambit of grants from the date on
which all other staff of respondent No.4 - Institute
were brought under the grant-in-aid on 29.01.2011
and pass appropriate orders in accordance with law
within 3 months from the date of receipt of a copy of
this order.
iii. The petitioners shall be entitled to consequential
benefits that would flow from the aforesaid direction
and the order that would be passed by the State."
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4. It is thus clear that the Co-ordinate Bench had
unequivocally observed that the case of the petitioner for
bringing the posts under the ambit of grant-in-aid must be
considered from 29.01.2011 and appropriate orders were
required to be passed within a period of three months.
Subsequent to such order, the respondent Authorities
have passed the impugned order at Annexure-'E' dated
24.05.2024.
5. A perusal of the order at Annexure-'E' dated
24.05.2024 would reveal that the case of the petitioner for
admitting the post to grant-in-aid from 03.08.2017 has
been passed, while rejecting the contention that approval
needs to be dated back from 29.01.2011. Secondly, it is
observed in the impugned order that it was not possible to
consider their service from the date of actual appointment
in the pre-grant period, as approval for the post was made
only on 03.08.2017. The said order has been assailed
contending that the order at Annexure-'E' was in violation
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of the direction of Co-ordinate Bench passed in
W.P.No.33139/2018.
6. It is further contended that insofar as the
calculation of service benefits which was rejected stating
that the service rendered prior to the date of approval of
the post for grant-in-aid cannot be considered requires to
be re-looked into, in light of the observations made by the
Division Bench in W.A. No.2476/2015 c/w
R.P.No.415/2021 decided on 24.07.2026.
7. Learned Additional Government Advocate
appearing on behalf of respondent State would contend
that the case of the petitioner for approval and admitting
his post to grant-in-aid cannot be considered
retrospectively and can be done only after his exoneration
in the disciplinary proceedings and accordingly, the
impugned order has rightly taken note of the aspect of
03.08.2017 as the relevant date.
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8. It is further contended by learned Additional
Government Advocate that the lis before the Court in
W.P.No.33139/2018 was in the context of challenge to the
order of suspension.
9. It is further submitted that despite exoneration
of petitioner from the disciplinary proceedings, there could
be no retrospective approval of admitting the post to
grant-in-aid from 29.01.2011, as law would not provide
such extension.
10. It is also submitted that the observations of the
Co-ordinate Bench in the aforesaid W.P.No.33139/2018
should be construed to be to consider the case of the
petitioner as per law, and if law did not provide dating
back approval for grant-in-aid post from 29.01.2011, the
only logical consequence would be to admit the post to
grant-in-aid from 03.08.2017.
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11. Perused the order of the Co-ordinate Bench
passed in W.P.No.23266/2018 c/w W.P.No.33139/2018
dated 06.07.2021. The observations at para-11 onwards
which are extracted hereinabove would make it clear that
the Co-ordinate Bench has specifically considered the issue
whether the petitioner was entitled to come within the
ambit of grant-in-aid from the date on which all other staff
members in the Institution were brought under the
grant-in-aid by the State on 29.01.2011.
12. The learned Single Judge has observed that, as
the allegations against the petitioner were found to be
baseless and enquiry proceedings closed, in effect, it could
be construed that there was no proceeding in law against
the petitioner at the time when the initial proposal was
sent for grant-in-aid. While observing so, the learned
Single Judge has emphatically observed that, " petitioners
are entitled to come within the ambit of grant from the
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date on which all other staff members in the Institute were
brought under grant-in-aid by the State on 29.01.2011."
13. Clearly, where the obstacle that prevented the
petitioner's post from being admitted to grant-in-aid was
removed, the petitioner was held to be entitled to be
admitted to grant-in-aid as on the date of his colleagues,
whose posts were admitted to grant-in-aid on 29.01.2011
on the principle of parity. If that were to be so, the
respondent State not having challenged the order in the
aforesaid writ petition, copy of the order produced at
Annexure-'C', it was not open for the respondent to hold
otherwise to the effect that approval is to be taken from
03.08.2017.
14. Insofar as other observation relating to
pre-grant service which has been held in the negative, in
light of the observations made in W.A. No.2476/2015 c/w
R.P.No.415/2021 that portion of Annexure-'E' is also
required to be set aside. The observations made in
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para-61 in W.A.No.2476/2015 c/w R.P.No.415/2021 reads
as follows:-
"61. It is also necessary to clarify the extent of
the relief that would flow from the present judgment.
The issue involved in the present batch of matters is
confined to whether the service rendered by
employees during the non-grant period is liable to be
reckoned for the purpose of fixation of pay and other
consequential service benefits. Neither the provisions
governing grant-in-aid nor the statutory framework
casts any liability upon the State to pay salary for the
period prior to admission of the post to grant-in-aid.
As produced supra, Annexure-I of Rules, 1999 would
make it abundantly clear that the management shall
be liable for payment of salary and other benefits till
the date such posts are admitted into grantin-aid.
The liability to pay salary during the non-grant period
continues to rest upon the management of the
concerned institution. Consequently, the service
rendered during the said period shall be taken into
account only for the purpose of notional fixation of
pay as on the date of admission of the post to grant-
in-aid and for extending consequential benefits such
as pension and other service benefits. The employees
shall not be entitled to claim arrears of salary or any
other monetary benefits from the State for the period
preceding the admission of the post to grant-in-aid.
15. Accordingly, the impugned order at
Annexure-'E' to that extent requires to be set aside is
accordingly set aside. The respondent Authorities are
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directed to extend grant-in-aid to the post of petitioner
with effect from 29.01.2011 in terms of the observations
made in the order dated 06.07.2021 passed in
W.P.No.23266/2018 c/w W.P.No.33139/2018.
16. Insofar as the request of petitioner to take
service prior to grant-in-aid for the purpose of pension and
other benefits, in light of the observations at para-61 in
W.A.No.2476/2015 c/w R.P.No.415/2021, the respondent
Nos.2 and 3 are directed to reckon the service of petitioner
from the date of appointment i.e., appointment pre grant-
in-aid for the purpose of notional fixation of pay in order to
calculate benefits such as pension and other service
benefits such consideration to be completed within a
period of six months.
17. Accordingly, the respondent Authorities are
directed to take note of the observations and pass
appropriate office orders within a period not later than six
months.
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Accordingly petition is disposed of .
Sd/-
(S SUNIL DUTT YADAV)
JUDGE
VGR