SHAH SAMIR BHARATBHAI Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Delay condoned. Leave granted.

(2.) These clutch of appeals stem from two judgments delivered by the Division Bench of the High Court of Gujarat. In the first judgment[R/Letters Patent Appeal No. 1159 of 2017 dtd. 14/2/2023, in R/MCA No. 721 of 2024 dtd. 22/3/2024.], State of Gujarat and Anr. v. Gohel Vishal Chhaganbhai & Ors. State's Letter Patent Appeals against orders of the single Judge granting the minimum scale of Assistant Professors to the respondents contractually appointed as Assistant Professors was dismissed. The State is before us in the first set of Civil Appeals. The second set of Civil Appeals pertain to some of the subsequently appointed contractual Assistant Professors, whose writ petitions were allowed by the single Judge granting complete parity with similarly placed Assistant Professors. The Division Bench, in State's Letter Patent Appeals went to the other extreme of allowing the appeals and dismissing the writ petitions altogether. Thus, the contractually appointed Assistant Professors are before us.

(3.) While applying the principles of equal pay for equal work and confirming the directions of the Division Bench to pay a minimum of the pay scale of Assistant Professors to the respondents, we have dismissed the State's appeals. Applying the same principles, we have allowed the Civil Appeals filed by similarly placed contractually appointed Assistant Professors and directed that they shall be paid minimum of the scale payable to Assistant Professors.