DHARMENDRA RAWAT Vs. STATE OF UTTARAKHAND

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard Mr. Ramji Srivastava, Advocate present for the petitioners and Mr. N.P. Sah, Standing Counsel present for the State of Uttarakhand. The petitioners are primary schools teacher in District Dehradun who in response to an advertisement for appointment as Cluster Resource Centre Coordinator (from hereinafter referred to as CRCC) applied in the year 2004, as they came under the eligibility shown. Consequently they were selected and appointed as CRCC at remote places in district Dehradun. A CRCC is appointed under a project which is primarily for spreading education, inter alia, in the remote part of State of Uttarakhand. These posts were created vide Government Order dated 19.3.2003 which clearly stipulated that the post of CRCC will carry a pay-scale of Rs. 5500-9000. Subsequently when the petitioners were appointed as CRCC, their appointment letter also clearly shows that they are appointed in the pay-scale of Rs. 5500-9000. It is also an admitted case that the petitioners are now getting a lower grade i.e. Rs. 4500-7000. All the same, it is the main contention of the petitioners that they applied as CRCC in order to get better remuneration and also considering the fact that whereas they were earlier teaching in Dehradun now they are to teach in remote areas of Uttarakhand and the main reason for doing so was that it carried a higher pay-scale. All the same, even after the petitioners had joined the post of CRCC, the said pay-scale was not given to them. Consequently the petitioners moved a joint representation before the concerned authority which was District Project Officer. Since the representation of the petitioners was not decided, the petitioners filed the present writ petition. Meanwhile the State Government during the pendency of the said writ petition passed a Government Order dated 31.3.2008 whereby they made an amendment in the earlier Government Order dated 28.7.2003 saying that the appointment of the petitioners on the post of CRCC is not by way of deputation but they have carried their post as CRCC. It is important to note that this amendment which has been made during the pendency of the writ petition was not existing on 19.3.2003 (i.e. the date when the posts of CRCC were created) and it was only made during the pendency of the writ petition of the petitioners when the petitioners have challenged the action of the respondents of giving them the lower pay-scale than what they have promised and what was stated in their appointment letter.

(2.) This subsequent amendment dated 31.3.2008 has also been challenged by the petitioners by way of an amendment by making a prayer which reads as follows:-

(3.) The principal stand of the Government before this Court is that the petitioners are not liable to get the pay-scale of Rs. 5500-9000 inasmuch as they were not appointed on the pay-scale of Rs. 5500-9000, as the order dated 24.2.2004 clearly stated that those teachers may also apply who carry a lower pay scale of Rs. 4500-7000. In other words, the stand of the State Government before this Court is that even in the said order they have clearly stated that the teachers who had a lower pay-scale are liable to apply and therefore by implication it would mean that they would be getting the same pay-scale as they are getting as primary school teacher.