Court ruled that the petitioner, reflecting the role and duties of an Associate Professor, is entitled to the minimum salary scale corresponding to the position, emphasizing protection against arbitrary actions by employers.

ORDER :

1. The present Writ Petition is filed to declare the action of Respondents in issuing Proceedings vide IIIT Ongole/RGUKT/Director/Order/Renewal/ 2019-20/06, dated 29.06.2019 and RGUKT/OGL/AO/Estt/Office Order/2019-20/01, dated 03.12.2019 by reducing the pay of Petitioner from Rs.75,000/- to Rs.40,000/- and changing the designation from Associate Professor (Physics) to Senior Faculty and later to Assistant Professor without following any known process of law, as illegal and arbitrary.

2. The facts leading to filing of the present Writ Petition are as follows:

Respondent No.3 is Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies (RGUKT) established by the State Government in the year 2008. A Public Notification was issued by Respondent No.3 on 09.04.2017 vide Ref: IIIT OGL/RGUKT-AP/Faculty/T01/2017 inviting applications for Senior Faculty positions (teaching) from eligible candidates in the areas of Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Social Sciences, Statistics, Management, Humanities, Computer Science & Engineering (CSE) and Civil Engineering on “annual contract basis.” The positions were stated to be purely temporary and carry consolidated emoluments without any allowances.

3. The Petitioner who was working as Assistant Professor in Physics at University College of Engineering & Technology, Acharya Nagarjuna University with Ph.D and M. Phil qualifications apart from 26 international publications had applied for the post of Senior Faculty. An interview was conducted on 10.05.2017 and pursuant thereto, the Petitioner was appointed as Associate Professor in Physics “on contract basis” under BC-D category as per the Minutes of Selection Committee which were released on 10.05.2017. However, in the office order issued by Respondent No.4 on 05.07.2017, it was stated that Petitioner was appointed as Associate Professor (Guest Faculty) in the Department of Physics with a consolidated remuneration of Rs.75,000/- per month.

4. It is further stated that the contract of the Petitioner was renewed by Respondent No.4 on 29.06.2019, but the salary of the Petitioner was reduced from Rs.75,000/- to Rs.65,000/-. The Petitioner received a mail on 17.10.2019 from Respondent No.4 and the Petitioner had to accept the same with a reduced salary of Rs.40,000/- per month contrary to the initial appointment.

5. Thereafter, the Petitioner had given representations on various dates to restore his designation as Associate Professor with the salary at the rate of Rs.75,000/- and the same be paid with effect from 01.07.2019. As the said representations were not being considered, the present Writ Petition is filed.

6. In the Counter Affidavit filed by Respondent No.4, it is stated that the Petitioner was initially appointed as ‘Guest Faculty’ though there is no such post in the institution. It is further stated that a three men committee was constituted to verify the series of applications filed pursuant to the notification. It is also stated that there is anomaly in fixation of salary at the rate of Rs.75,000/- to the Petitioner though the designation is only that of a ‘Guest Faculty’.

7. As the Petitioner was working as ‘Guest Faculty’, a mail was sent on 02.12.2019 to the Chancellor seeking for approval to change the designation and salary for the ‘Senior Faculty’ and the same was approved on 03.12.2019 and accordingly the salary of the Petitioner was revised from Rs.65,000/- to Rs.40,000/- per month.

8. The learned counsel for the Petitioner would submit that the appointment of the Petitioner was pursuant to the notification for appointment ‘on contract basis’ and the ‘Guest Faculty’ was not advertised by them. It is also contended that the Pe