In Brief
A teacher was appointed as an untrained high school teacher in 1994 and later qualified as a trained teacher (B.Ed) in September 1997. Another teacher was appointed as a trained Assistant Teacher (with B.A and B.Ed) in August 1997. A seniority dispute arose. The Supreme Court held that under Maharashtra's Private School Rules, 1981, seniority in secondary schools is determined by the prescribed category of qualifications at the time of appointment, not by date of joining. Since the second teacher was appointed as a trained teacher (Category C) before the first teacher acquired training, the first teacher could not claim seniority over the second in the trained category. The appeal was dismissed.
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