A teacher's entitlement to a higher pay scale cannot be denied due to procedural lapses by the authority, provided the teacher has complied with necessary requirements.

JUDGMENT :

Rai Chattopadhyay, J.

1. The petitioner has filed the present case to challenge the order dated November 27, 2012 passed by the Additional District Inspector of Schools, Secondary Education, Basirhat, North 24 Parganas.

2. The subject matter of the writ petition relates to grant of higher scale of pay to the petitioner. The petitioner has stated that she was recommended by the West Bengal Regional School Service Commission, South Eastern Region, Barasat, for being appointed as an Assistant Teacher in Dumdum Girls’ High School (H.S.). By dint of its letter dated April 20, 2005 the petitioner was recommended to be appointed as a pass graduate teacher. The petitioner joined in the said school on April 29, 2005. Her approval was granted vide order dated September 7, 2005 as a pass graduate teacher in Science and Mathematics Group. Since thereafter during serving in the said school, the petitioner has decided to upgrade her qualification and similar prayer was submitted by her before Secretary of the School, vide letter dated August 31, 2006. The school authority has granted permission to the petitioner in terms of her prayer, by dint of the resolution dated September 14, 2006.

3. The petitioner in the meantime appeared for the 9th Regional Level Selection Test, 2008, conducted by the School Service Commission and was recommended for being appointed in Bankra High School. This time, writ petitioner was recommended by the School Service Commission as a Chemistry Honours graduate candidate and appointed and approved (on January 14, 2010) as B.Sc. (Hons.) in Chemistry Assistant Teacher.

4. By dint of a letter dated April 19, 2010, address to the Secretary, Bankra High School that after joining in the said school on October 24, 2009, she has appeared for the final examination of M.Sc. Correspondence Course in Vidyasagar University on December 30, 2009. By dint of her said letter she has requested the school authority to release her salary meant for post graduate teachers. The petitioner’s prayer as above was approved by the School Managing Committee. The recommendation of the School Managing Committee for grant of higher pay scale to the writ petitioner was forwarded duly to the office of District Inspector of Schools, Secondary Education, Basirhat, North 24 Parganas, vide letter dated June 25, 2010.

5. The resultant order is that impugned in the instant writ petition, which is, dated November 27, 2012. The said letter relates to the subject matter sanction of post graduate scale of pay in favour of Ashoka Sadhukhan, Assistant Teacher, B.Sc. (Hons.) in Chemistry. The Additional District Inspector of Schools, Secondary Education, Basirhat, North 24 Parganas has stated in the said letter that the petitioner who is a B.Sc. (Hons.) Assistant Teacher of the school would not be entitled to get higher scale of pay, in terms of G.O. No. 1595-SE (S) dated December 26, 2005 and G.O. No. 593-SE (B) dated November 27, 2007.

6. Mr. Jana, learned Advocate appearing for the petitioner, categorically relied on the Full Bench Judgment of this Court in Utpal Kanti Karan vs. State of West Bengal & Ors., reported in 2024 SCC Online Cal 1274, to submit that the Court has dealt the similar issue in the case as above, in the following words:-

“In case of any conflict between the government order dated 26th December, 2005 and order dated 27th November, 2007 it is needless to mention that the order dated 26th December, 2005 shall prevail. In fact, the government order of 26th December, 2005 was issued in exercise of power under Section 14(3) of the 2005 Act. Although, it has been argued that for the purpose of making rules the assent of the Governor is not required and inadvertently it has been mentioned that “The Governor is pleased hereby to specify” in the earlier Government order all the applications pending prior to 27th November, 2007 are required to be decided on the basis of the Rules existing during the interregnum period and any benefit accrued c