Man gets teacher’s job, ₹80 lakh 30 years after topping merit list

Man gets teacher’s job, ₹80 lakh 30 years after topping merit list

Mohammad.Anab@timesgroup.com

Dehradun: 20.11.2021

In 1989, following an advertisement in a newspaper, then 24-year-old Gerald John applied for the post of commerce teacher at CNI Boys’ Inter College, a government-aided minority educational institute in Dehradun. However, despite clearing the interview and topping the merit list, he didn’t get the job.

In 1990, the Farrukhabad resident moved the Allahabad HC. After Uttarakhand was carved out of UP in 2000, the case was transferred to the HC in Nainital. When he turned 55, theUttarakhand HC ruled in his favour in December 2020 — ordering him to be appointed in the school as well as a release of Rs 80 lakh as compensation. Of this, John was paid Rs 73 lakh by the Uttarakhand government a few months back but the remaining Rs 7 lakh, which is to be paid by the UP government, is still due. Being the senior-most teacher, John is also the acting principal of the school now.

Reminiscing about his long fight, he told TOI that he was quite taken aback when despite clearing the interview and topping the merit list, he didn’t get the job. “When I asked authorities why I was rejected, I was told the candidate needed to have stenography skills to be selected. Stenography was not mentioned as one of the required criteria in the job listing. I suspected that the candidate who got the job had connived with authorities. That’s when I took the matter to court.” In 2007, a single bench of the Uttarakhand HC ruled against John. He challenged the verdict in Supreme Court. Ex-Union minister and lawyer Salman Khurshid took up his case and fought it for free. “He saw it as a genuine case and since both of us are from Farrukhabad, he didn’t take any fee. The case stayed in SC from 2007 to 2010. The court said the case had merit and asked us to appeal for it in front of a double bench of the HC instead of a single bench.

Ten years after the case moved back to Uttarakhand HC, a double bench ruled in John’s favour in December 2020. In January this year, John was appointed the Commerce teacher for classes 11 and 12 at the CNI Boys’ Inter College. In April, after the principal retired, he was also made the acting principal.

AFTER A LONG WAIT: In January this year, Gerald John was appointed as the Commerce teacher for classes 11 and 12 at the CNI Boys’ Inter College in Dehradun. After the principal retired in April, he was made acting principal