Facts: Petitioner No. 2 (a Management Sanstha) appointed Petitioner No. 1 to the post of Headmistress in a private school effective from 1st July 2017 following the retirement of the previous Headmaster. The Sanstha submitted a proposal for approval of this appointment to Respondent No. 2 (Education Officer). However, Respondent No. 3, an Assistant Teacher belonging to a reserved category, objected to the appointment, claiming that the post should have been filled by a candidate from the Scheduled Caste category as per the roster. The school in question had only two posts of Headmaster/Assistant Head. The Education Officer subsequently rejected the approval proposal on 27th August 2018, citing the Sanstha's failure to ascertain the roster point since February 2004.Procedural Posture: The Petitioners approached the Bombay High Court under its writ jurisdiction to challenge the order passed by the Education Officer (Secondary), Zilla Parishad, Raigad, which refused to approve the appointment of Petitioner No. 1.Issue: Whether executive directions contained in Government Resolutions and Circulars regarding roster verification can prevail over the statutory provisions of the MEPS Rules, 1981, and whether reservation applies to a cadre consisting of only two posts.Holding: No, executive directions cannot override statutory rules. Furthermore, the Court held that since there were only two posts of Headmaster, the 33% reservation prescribed under the MEPS Rules could not be applied as it would result in 50% reservation, which exceeds the statutory limit.Reasoning: The Court observed that Rule 9(10) of the MEPS Rules, 1981, mandates a 33% reservation for various backward categories in the posts of Heads and Assistant Heads. In a setup with only two such posts, reserving one post would equate to 50% reservation, violating the 33% ceiling fixed by the statutory rules. The Court reaffirmed the settled legal principle that "the executive cannot issue any directions which are not in consonance with the statutory rules". Since the MEPS Rules were framed under delegated powers per Section 16 of the MEPS Act, they prevail over any Government Resolutions or Circulars. Consequently, if the statutory reservation percentage cannot be mathematically met without exceeding the limit, the reservation is inapplicable, rendering roster verification unnecessary.