1995 Supreme(P&H) 816
PUNJAB & HARYANA HIGH COURT
T.H.B.Chalapathi and G.S.Singhvi JJ.
Gian Chand Gupta
Versus
State Of Haryana
C.W.P. No. 7708 of 1995,
Decided On : JULY 20, 1995
Important Points
Subject
Employment Law - Government Employees
Act Referred
Headnote
Higher Pay Scale - Teachers in Government Schools - The petitioners, teachers in Government Schools in the State of Haryana, sought a writ for higher pay scale based on their qualifications. The court held that the Circular dated 23.7.1957, revising pay scales for employees with higher qualifications, applied to teachers in the Education Department. Relying on various decisions of the Supreme Court and the High Court, the court allowed the writ petition, granting the relief of higher pay scale to the petitioners from the date of acquiring their higher qualifications.
Fact of the Case:
The petitioners, teachers in Government Schools in Haryana, sought a writ for higher pay scale from the date of acquiring their qualifications.
Finding of the Court:
The court held that the Circular dated 23.7.1957 applied to teachers in the Education Department, and the petitioners were entitled to the relief of higher pay scale based on various decisions of the Supreme Court and the High Court. The writ petition was allowed, granting the relief of higher pay scale to the petitioners from the date of acquiring their higher qualifications.
Issues: The issue was whether the petitioners, as teachers in Government Schools, were entitled to the higher pay scale from the date of acquiring their qualifications based on the Circular dated 23.7.1957.
Ratio Decidendi: The court relied on the Circular dated 23.7.1957, various decisions of the Supreme Court, and the High Court to establish that the petitioners were entitled to the relief of higher pay scale from the date of acquiring their qualifications.
Final Decision: The writ petition was allowed, and the petitioners were granted the relief of higher pay scale from the date of acquiring their higher qualifications.
T.H.B.Chalapathi, J.
1. The petitioners who are working as teachers in various Government Schools in the State of Haryana, filed this writ petition for issuance of a writ directing the respondents to grant them the higher pay scale from the date of their acquiring the qualification of B A. or equivalent examination, according to the orders of the Government.
2. The erstwhile State of Punjab issued a Circular dated 23.7.1957, revising the pay scales of the employees of the Government including the teachers working in Education Department for possessing higher qualifications. When the relief of higher pay scales was denied to some of the teachers who have acquired higher qualification, approached this Court through different writ petitions. Those writ petitions were allowed. The matter was also decided by a Full Bench of this Court in CWP No.484 of 1986 (Om Parkash Arya versus State of Haryana & Ors.). The Supreme Court also in Civil Appeal No.3799 of 1983 (Avtar Singh versus Manmohan Singh & Ors.) and Chaman Lal& Ors. versus State of Haryana & Ors., 1987(4) S.L.R. 4. This Court in view of the orders of the Supreme Court held that the Circular is applicable to the teachers working in the State of Haryana. In CWP No. 10365 of 1994 (Haryana Rajkiya Adhyapak Sangh versus State of Haryana & Ors.), decided on 31.1.1995, a Division Bench of this Court held that that teachers are entitled to the relief in view of various decisions of the Supreme Court and a large number of other decisions of this Court. After considering various pronouncements of this Court as well as of the Supreme Court a Division Bench of this Court in CWP No.15630 of 1993 (Rattan Singh & Ors. versus Haryana State etc.), decided on 14.9.1994, directed the respondents to give relief to the petitioners by fixing their pay in the higher scale from the date they acquired the requisite qualifications. Thus it has been consistently held that the Circular dated 23.7.1957 is applicable to all the teachers in the Education Department.
3. The Supreme Court in Mamleshwar Prasad & ors. versus Kanahaiya, AIR 1975 SC 907 observed as follows:-
"Certainty of the law, consistency of rulings and comity of courts - all flowering from the same principle - converge to the conclusion that a decision once rendered must later bind like cases, We do- not intend to detract from the rule that, in exceptional instances, there by obvious inadvertence or oversight a judgment fails to notice a plain statutory provision or obligatory authority running counter to the reasoning and result reached, it may not have the say of binding precedents. It should be a glaring case, an obtrusive omission. No such situation presents itself here and we do not embark on the principle of judgment per incuriam."
4. Thus it is clear that the petitioners are entitled to the relief of higher pay scale in terms of the decisions of the Supreme Court and this Court as well. The writ petition is accordingly allowed and the petitioners shall be given the relief of higher pay scale from the date of acquiring higher qualification in the same terms as given to the petitioners in C.W.P. No.15630 of 1993 (Rattan Singh & ors. verms State of Haryana etc.), decided by a Division Bench of this Court on 14.9.1994. However, there will be no order as to costs.