The main legal principle established is that the pension entitlement of an employee of a recognized private school should not be affected by the grant-in-aid date, as mandated by Section 10(1) of the Delhi School Education Act, 1973.

SUDERSHAN KUMAR MISRA, J.

1. This petition impugns orders, dated 2nd August, 2007, 22nd April, 2008 and 24th April, 2008 of the Deputy Director of Education, District West-B, Vikaspuri, New Delhi. The only controversy in this matter is with regard to the date from which the service of the petitioner is to be taken into account for the purpose of computation of her pension. The respondents have fixed the relevant date as 1st January, 1981, whereas the petitioner claims that the date ought to have been 1st May, 1976 instead.

2. The petitioner was appointed as a TGT (Science) on 1st January, 1976 in DTEA Higher Secondary School, Janakpuri, New Delhi i.e. the fourth respondent. At that point of time the school was an unrecognized one. The school was granted recognition on 1st May, 1976. The Director of Education decided to give “grant-in-aid”, to the School from 1st May, 1981. Thereafter in Writ Petition (C) No.2868/1991, the petitioner was held entitled to computation of the prescribed period of 12 years service with effect from the date the school was granted recognition, i.e. 1st May, 1976, for considering her entitlement to the senior scale of pay. The petitioner retired from service on 28th February, 2006. After her retirement, for quantifying the length of service rendered by her for determining her pension; the respondents decided that this must be reckoned from the date on which grant-in-aid was given, i.e. 1.5.1981, and not from the date on which the school was recognized, which was 1.5.1976.

3. Counsel for the petitioner has, inter alia, relied on the aforesaid judgment passed by this Court on 26th July, 1996, in WP (C) No. 2868/1991 that had been moved by her, praying for directions to the school to pay her salary in terms of the senior scale of TGT from 1st May, 1988. In that petition, the court agreed with the petitioner?s contention and held that the period in question must be computed from 1.5.1976 onwards, and the fact that the school was granted, “grant in aid”, only from 1.5.1981 onwards, is irrelevant. The stand of the respondents that this period be reckoned only from 1st May, 1981, which happened to be the date the school was brought under the grant-in-aid scheme by the Director of Education, was rejected on the ground that the school was duly recognized w.e.f 1st May, 1976, and the petitioner continued to work with the respondent from that day onwards; therefore, the benefit of the period of 12 years for entitlement to the senior scale of pay would also commence from 1st May, 1976 and not from any later date. L.P.A No. 218/1996 impugning that decision was dismissed, and Special Leave Petition (C) CC No. 1963/1998 moved by the respondents before the Supreme Court of India was also dismissed.

4. While the school has not bothered to appear, counsel for the Director of Education contends that the benefit of pension is made available to an employee on the basis of certain contributions towards that benefit, both by the school as well as by the government. Those contributions towards pension by the government only commenced after the grant-in-aid was agreed to be given to the school and the school also started contributing its portion towards the pension of the petitioner thereafter. The responsibility for releasing monthly pension rests with the Director of Education and consequently, it would be unfair to expect it to meet the liability towards payment of pension for a period for which no contribution has been received from the respondent school on behalf of the petitioner. The counsel for the petitioner, however, states that the Director of Education would have no objection to include the period from 1st May, 1976 to 1st May, 1981, for the purpose of computing her pension provided the school were to contribute its share towards that period.

5. Admittedly, Section 10 of the Delhi School Education Act, 1973, (hereinafter referred as the Act), which was also examined in WP(C) 2868/1991 for the purpose of the