Eligible PTA college teachers entitled to grant-in-aid salary despite NET/SLET lack post-dispensation; discriminatory denial while granting others violates Articles 14,16; rules persist without repeal; salary for work is protected property right.

JUDGMENT :

Ranjan Sharma, J.

Petitioner, Deepika Jain had initially filed an Original Application No.2986 of 2018 before the State Administrative Tribunal and upon abolition of Tribunal, the matter has now come up on transfer to this Court, as CWPOA No. 4542 of 2020, seeking the following reliefs:-

(i) That respondents may very kindly be directed to issue grant-in-aid in favour of the applicant from the date when same was released in favour of the similarly situated persons as mentioned in Annexure A-4 and to grant all consequential benefits from the due date.

(ii) That respondents may very kindly be directed not to appoint or replace the applicant through regular hand or by any other mode.

(iii) That the respondents may very kindly be directed to bring the applicant on contract basis and to regularize her services as per their policy framed for the persons appointed on PTA basis.

FACTUAL MATRIX:

2. Case as set up by Learned Counsel is that in view of educational qualification [as in Annexure A-3], the petitioner being Post Graduate and MPhil after due selection, was appointed as an Assistant Professor in Political Science, through PTA basis, in Government Decree College, Nalagarh in the year 2000. It is averred that in 2003, her services were terminated illegally due to the posting of a regular incumbent but in pursuance to Advertisement dated 04.08.2013 [Annexure P-1] and after due selection petitioner was appointed/re-engaged as an Assistant Professor in subject of Political Science through PTA and she joined as such on 16.08.2013 in said College.

2(i). It is averred that Principal Secretary (Hr Edu) issued a communication on 26.07.2014 [Annexure A-5] that the qualification of NET/ SLET shall not be required for teachers provided by Parents teachers Association and this decision was reasserted by the State Authorities on 06.08.2014 [Annexure A-5 colly] that qualification of NET/SLET will not be insisted upon, in case of engagement of PTA provided College Teachers in the State. In this backdrop, the case of petitioner is that though she is working as Assistant Professor [earlier called as Lecturer] in Government Degree College Nalagarh through PTA but the State- Authorities have not released salary under Grant- in-Aid to the petitioner on the analogy on which the same has been released in case of other PTA provided College Teachers.

In this backdrop, the petitioner has prayed that the denial of salary under Grant-in-Aid from date of joining on 16.08.2013 as granted to others is unfair, unreasonable, arbitrary and is violative of Articles 14 & 16 of the Constitution of India.

STAND OF STATE AUTHORITIES IN REPLY- AFFIDAVIT

3. Pursuant to the issuance of notice by this Court on 28.05.2018, the State Authorities have filed the Reply-Affidavit dated 24.08.2018 of Director, Higher Education, Himachal Pradesh.

3(i). Reply-affidavit admits that the petitioner was engaged as Lecturer in Political Science in Govt Degree College Nalagarh on 24.07.2000 and was paid out of the amalgamated fund. Reply-Affidavit indicates that the petitioner was engaged on Local PTA on 16.08.2013 and she worked till December 2017. Reply-Affidavit states that petitioner possesses Master degree in Political Science with 55% marks and is also M-Phil but she does not possess the NET/SLET qualification. However, it is averred that the State Authorities have released the salary under Grant-in- Aid to the teachers appointed by PTA in the newly opened 14 Colleges in the State vide notification dated 8.09.2014 and 4.06.2015.

In this backdrop, State Authorities have opposed the prayer for salary under Grant-in-Aid on the ground that petitioner was not eligible for the post of Assistant Professor