Posts of Dy Director, DEO interchangeable, Edu Dept tells CAT

CHANDIGARH: The Education Department today submitted an affidavit in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), stating that the posts of the District Education Officer and the Deputy Director is interchangeable, in response to the Tribunal’s direction asking whether the Deputy Director (Adult Education) is a cadre post.

Naina Mishra
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 9

The Education Department today submitted an affidavit in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), stating that the posts of the District Education Officer and the Deputy Director is interchangeable, in response to the Tribunal’s direction asking whether the Deputy Director (Adult Education) is a cadre post.

Anujit Kaur had challenged her transfer from the DEO post to Deputy Director (Adult Education) in CAT.

On November 29, CAT directed the Department to file an affidavit if the posts of the DEO and the Deputy Director are in the same cadre. The Department, through advocate Arvind Moudgil, Nodal Officer, filed an affidavit today and submitted that a detailed reply will also be filed. The department stated “all posts of Deputy Directors, DEO, Assistant Directors and principals of government schools have the same pay scale and are interchangeable considering the exigencies of work/administrative grounds.”

The Department further submitted that all posts of Deputy Directors (Deputy Director School Education, Deputy Director Vocational Education, Deputy Director Adult Education-I and Deputy Director Adult Education —II) have the same pay scale and same feeder cadre.

“The transfer is an incident of service and is within the administrative domain. The transfer of Anujit Kaur has been done in public interest and on administrative exigency,” states the Department. The petitioner had argued in the previous hearing that the Department had played a trick by posting her to an ex-cadre post from a cadre post. It was also submitted that only to frustrate the request of the applicant for interim relief, the respondents have passed an order on the same date (November 27) vide which, Alka Mehta was allowed to join as the DEO.

It was contended in the court that a cadre officer cannot be posted against an ex-cadre post without their being any consent. The counsel argued that order passed by the Department posting Kaur to an ex-cadre post from a cadre post is liable to be set aside. The next date of hearing is December 19.